There were so many eighth graders who applied to the high school’s dual enrollment program this year, High School Principal Scott Palladino said they had to turn away more than 40 applicants.

“They are high-achieving students,” Palladino said.

This year’s cohort of dually-enrolled eighth graders numbers 37 students. Palladino explained that they take four courses at the high school level: Algebra I Honors, English Honors, Intro to Physical World Honors and Intro to World History, which is at the college prep level. In taking these four courses, the students may get a jump on their high school education and begin their official high school careers as sophomores.

But the advanced education is not only good for the eighth graders, Palladino said.

“It’s good for the ninth graders, too, because it really pushes them because there is a little bit of competition there,” Palladino said. “You don’t want to get a lower grade than an eighth grader, and the eighth grader wants to do as well as they can because these are going to be the first four courses on their high school transcript.”

Though it was only their fourth day taking the high school courses, several of the dual enrollment students expressed an eagerness for the courses they are taking.

“This morning, I had algebra. What we are learning there are square roots and perfect squares,” student Kara Young said. “After algebra, I had history, and we are learning about early-on peasantry and the similarities and differences between peasantry and city life.”

“There is a lot of interactive stuff that you can do,” student Jason Klemp said. “Like today, we were in science class … [the teacher] was swinging this weight on this string, and you had to try to make a prediction on the time it would take to make ten swings back and forth.”

“Three days ago, we learned about sleep, and our homework assignment was to get nine hours of sleep,” Klemp added. “That was fun.”

But it’s not just about square roots, sleeping and social systems for these students. They are also planning for their future.

“It’s better to get a higher education,” student Bryan Gallagher said of the program. “As a freshman, you take higher classes, so we can save money for college and college courses when we are older.”

Gallagher is correct. In becoming dual enrollment students this early, Palladino said, these students will have the option to enroll in the high school’s dual enrollment program with Bridgewater State University, and start taking college courses as soon as they get to high school. They will also be able to take advantage of the school’s International Baccalaureate candidacy program at an earlier age, and some may even be fully enrolled in college their senior years, while still transferring those credits to their high school transcripts, too. This will enable them to save money on college down the line, since they will have already completed a portion of their college education.

Palladino said the aspect of the program he is most excited about is the opportunities these students will have.

“What I am excited about is seeing what happens during the college application process,” Palladino said. “Their transcripts … are going to be the strongest transcripts ever coming out of Wareham High School. I think the sky’s the limit for these kids, in terms of what schools they want to get into.”