Stern named Director of Early College
Published on April 28, 2020
April Stern
NORTH EAST, Md. – In an ever-competitive world, providing students with opportunities to get ahead while still in high school is more critical now than ever before. Cecil College is opening doors to these prospects through programs such as Early College Academy, Dual Enrollment, Gifted and Talented Program, STEM Program, and Senior Waivers.
Cecil College is proud and excited to announce the appointment of April Stern to the position of Director of Early College to oversee and nurture these programs as the institution works to better lives within the community. Stern has overseen the growth of the Early College Academy (ECA) for three years and will bring her same diligence and dedication to all dual enrollment programs.
“I was brought into ECA while working as an Academic Advisor, and I fell in love with the program. It is a great opportunity for students and their families to save money while benefiting from what the program provides,” said Stern, whose success is traced to her approachability and networking proficiency. “Overall, the ECA program has gone well, and I expect it will continue to do so. Dual Credit is a solid program that Diena Gischel (Director of Advising) has built up to where every school wants Duel Credit classes in their system. It is a well-oiled wheel and the ECA program continues to grow, bringing more students on campus.”
ECA allows students entering ninth grade with the highest academic performance, to enroll as a freshman at Cecil College. As ninth and tenth grade students, they take introductory-level college classes and study skills training from Cecil College professors who travel to the high school. The teens take higher-level courses, such as statistics and composition, at the North East Campus during their junior and senior years.
When Stern joined Cecil College, ECA was offered in partnership with the Oxford Area School District in Chester County, Pa. Under her guidance, the program was expanded to homeschooled students, and it now has cohorts in the Cecil County Public School District at Elkton High School and Perryville High School.
“CCPS picked these two high schools because of their locations within the county. So when parents are traveling to work, if they are on I-95 North, they can take them to Elkton, and if it is I-95 South, they can take them to Perryville,” said Stern.
Currently, there are 23 freshmen in the Perryville cohort, along with 21 first-year students and 26 sophomores in the Elkton cohorts. For the homeschooler cohorts, there are 13 freshmen, 12 sophomores, and nine juniors. In May, the third Oxford cohort will have completed the program. The completion rate ranges from 75 to 80 percent.
“April has done an outstanding job growing Cecil College’s Early College Academy. She is responsive with parents, collaborative with K-12 leaders, and engaged and supportive with students,” said Dr. Kimberly Joyce, Vice President of Student Services.
Dual credit classes are college-level courses taught at the high school level by Cecil College faculty. Cecil College faculty develop course learning objectives to ensure alignment with post-secondary standards. By consolidating the organization of ECA and Dual Credit programs under Stern, the coordination of staffing classes eliminates a level of bureaucracy to serve students better.
“It is a challenge to find people whose schedules are flexible, but coordinating with CCPS has been easy. The teachers and staff are so committed to the success of their students it makes my job that much easier,” said Stern, who encourages the students enrolled in these programs to take advantage of the resources Cecil College has to offer. “Even as a high school student, our tutoring services are open to them, and our math and writing labs are open to them. They can use these resources not only on the college side but even with their high school subjects.”
Stern resides in Elkton with her husband, Adam, who retired on April 1 from the military after 20 years of service, their dogs Maisy and Hank, and mischief cat Cleo. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University and a master’s degree from Murray State University of Kentucky. Before Cecil College, Stern worked at Hopkinsville Community College in Kentucky, where she still teaches an online course.