Q: What is the cost?
A: There are no costs for the NCAPS Program. All costs are covered by the District, including costs for college classes.
Q: Is Transportation provided?
A: Yes, transportation is provided from Lawrence/Nelson to Sandy Creek for College Pathway Classes. For Mentor visits, students can complete paperwork to drive themselves or transportation will be provided by the District.
Q: If I enter a pathway, am I stuck in it for the rest of the school year or my high school career?
A: Absolutely not! Students can change pathways at semester break, just like they can change classes at semester break!
Q: What if my relationship with my business partner just isn’t working out?
A: While we will try to convince you to work through some issues, we also understand there are times that this might not seem possible. If this is the case, either from the student’s end or the mentor’s end, changes can be made to the process.
Q: Will I still be able to take four years of math/science classes?
A: Yes! Many of our students taking college classes are also taking Physics, Chemistry, Pre-Calculus and/or College Algebra. The NCAPS program is not a replacement for the core college-preparatory curriculum, but an addition that helps tie the core and career areas of our curriculum together.
Q: What pathways are currently being offered, and which ones are for college credit?
A: All pathways are being offered with college credit available (except for the culinary arts pathway). The pathways that we offer are:
- Agriculture pathway
- Arts pathway
- Business pathway
- Construction, Engineering and Manufacturing pathway
- Education pathway
- Government and Law pathway
- Healthcare pathway
- Transportation pathway
- Culinary Arts pathway — We are working on adding college courses to this pathway
Q: How do I go about finding a mentor to help guide me in a career field of my interest?
We have instructors and administrators specifically assigned to each career field. These professionals will find a mentor for you, taking special consideration to the specific area you are interested in. Transportation to the mentor is provided, or you can fill out permission forms to drive yourself to and from your mentor visits. Your mentor is giving up valuable time at his or her profession to meet with you, so we have assigned tasks for the students at each of the visits, and the mentor will be able to provide us with feedback after the mentorship on what the student can do to improve his or her career skills.
Q: What are the advantages of being involved in NCAPS?
A: With so many programs and courses, any student can find a career field and courses that interest them, at no cost to them or their family. NCAPS helps students find an expert in the field to help guide them to see what career choice best fits him or her. NCAPS also helps to give a student a taste of what being in a college course is like from self-paced to instructor-paced classes, and lots of hands-on, real-life experiences.
On top of scholarships and sponsorships being offered to many of our students because of NCAPS, there is also the support of a high school teacher in a college setting…someone the student feels comfortable with and knows on a personal level to set them up for success in their field.
Communication and presentation skills are also something that is emphasized from the semester projects (or longer) to the resumes, cover letters, and relationships built with the student’s mentor(s).