RACC will offer college classes in Wilson Southern Middle School

By Steve Reinbrecht

Reading Area Community College plans to offer evening classes in Wilson Southern Middle School, starting in late August.

The college [where I work as a part-time instructor] did a survey in 2014 to better understand the needs and expectations of current and future students. It found that people had a lot of interest in possibly taking RACC classes at places other than the college’s campus in downtown Reading.

The middle school would host about 50 sections of 23 different college courses, which could generate hundreds of students. 

The college zeroed in on the Wilson school, off Penn Avenue in Spring Township, not far from Lowe’s, for several reasons, President Anna Weitz told me on the phone. It has great access to Route 222, is surrounded by a big population, and has lots of parking and casual restaurants nearby for students making a dash to class from work, she said.

An announcement on the middle school’s website lists facts about the arrangement in response to “incorrect information posted on social media.”

  

RACC will lease the space. The classes will be offered on afternoons and evenings on Mondays through Thursdays in accelerated, 7-week sessions.

The move “speaks directly to our mission of providing accessible higher education,” Weitz wrote in an announcement.

The college wants to make sure this pilot program succeeds before trying satellites in other places, Weitz said.

“I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”

Wilson also participates in RACC’s dual-enrollment and early admission programs.