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About The Academy

The Academy at SVCC provides access to an engaging and rewarding college experience to high achieving high school seniors. The Academy is built on four educational tenants:

  • Academics: Challenge students with rigorous college classes and high academic standards
  • Leadership: Develop leadership skills by engaging students in discussions with some of the best community leaders in the Sauk Valley area
  • Service: Create and implement a service project that benefits the Sauk Valley area
  • Cultural, Historical and Scientific Appreciation: Develop more appreciation of the world by having some of Sauk's best faculty lead them on local educational excursions and experiences

Benefits and Goals

The Academy has many benefits including:

  • Earn enough transferable college credit to possibly complete the General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) Credential
  • Complete prerequisites for your college major
  • Free admission into Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society in the spring semester (if eligible)
  • Develop college success skills by completing the First Year Experience (FYE) class
  • Learn alongside other motivated students from all over the SVCC district
  • Develop leadership skills
  • Grow personally by being involved in service, cultural and historical activities.

Student Requirements

  • Mandatory participation in the FYE class (fall semester) and Leadership Class (spring semester).
  • Students should be highly motivated, have the ability to work independently without direct supervision, display self-discipline and demonstrate the desire to pursue college-level coursework beyond the high school curriculum.
  • Students should have reliable transportation to and from the College.
  • Students must be high school seniors and apply by February 1 of their junior year.
  • Students must have a minimum high school cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.0 after 5th semester (confirmed by official high school transcript submission).
  • Students must currently have earned enough credits to be on track to graduate with their high school class.
  • Students will need to place into ENG 101 (Composition I) or have ENG 101 already completed.
  • Students will need to place into a college-level mathematics course or have one already completed.
  • The Academy application including all supporting documentation must be completed and submitted by stated deadline. Supporting documentation includes:
  • High school counselor recommendation form must be completed and submitted (a separate web form is sent to the counselor when the student application is submitted).
  • SVCC High School Student Information Form must be completed and submitted to SVCC.
  • High school transcript and test scores
  • Parent/Guardian approval and signature upon acceptance into the program

SVCC reserves the right to cancel The Academy model based on minimum enrollment requirements.