CCA has elected to offer the opportunity for students to participate in Career and Technical Education through BOCES at the Harkness CTE Center in Cheektowaga, NY. In 10th grade, students will take a field trip to the Harkness facility to see what the program offers. Students who would like to participate in this program will then sign up during their Sophomore year and will attend the program during their Junior and Senior years.
Click here to check out the programs available at the Harkness Center.
*Where is the BOCES program and can I attend any location?
- CCA will be participating in the BOCES programs located at the Harkness CTE Center which is located at 99 Aero Drive, Cheektowaga, NY 14225. This location is 1.5 miles from CCA and is a 5 minute drive.
- At this time, we are not participating with any other locations and students may not attend any location other than the Harkness Career and Technical Center.
* What time does the program run?
- Seniors attend the AM session from 7:45-10:00 am
- Juniors attend the PM session from 12:30- 2:45 pm
* Can I participate in more than one program? Can I change programs?
- No. Each program is a 2 year program and students must complete both the junior and senior year in the same program to earn credit for the programs.
- Students may not change programs but if a student, with parent permission, decides to opt out of completing the second part of the program, they may continue to attend CCA as a regular senior taking a full load of senior courses.
*What other schools will students be coming from?
- The BOCES program is open to all public and private schools in Erie County and students will come from a mix of those districts.
*Is transportation provided to and from Harkness?
Seniors are responsible to transport themselves to the program in the morning for the 7:45am arrival time. If the senior is a driver, they may transport themselves to CCA and arrive by 10:30am.
Transportation from Harkness to CCA at 10:15am will be provided for those seniors who need it. That senior in need of transportation should notify CCA at the start of the year and arrangements will be made.
JUNIORS: A bus will leave CCA at 12:20 to transfer juniors to the program and will pick them up again at 2:45 to bring them back to CCA in time for dismissal and after-school activities. Students will then take their normal transportation home.
STUDENT DRIVERS and RIDERS: If a student wishes to transport themselves to and from the program, they may opt to do so by completing a student rider & driver form to have on file at CCA. Note that students are to drive only to BOCES and back to CCA and should not be stopping anywhere else along the way. Should other students wish to ride with a student driver, they may do so as long as both parents have agreed and both students have the student rider & driver form on file at CCA with both students’ names listed and appropriate parent signatures.
* How do I register for BOCES?
- Students interested in attending Harkness for a BOCES program need to be re-enrolled and contracted first at CCA. Re-enrollment opens in mid December for sophomores at CCA so that families may complete the re-enrollment process at CCA prior to the registration opening at BOCES.
- At that time, interested students should obtain a BOCES registration form in the CCA Guidance Office to be completed and signed by a parent letting us know that they wish to attend a program. The School Counselor will register students with Harkness. There is nothing that students need to do with BOCES to register.
- Once approved in the BOCES program, families will need to request funding from their individual school district. This is done by submitting a letter to the school board which must come directly from the families and must be signed by a parent. The School Counselor will provide the letter to the families who are attending BOCES which includes the proper language for the request and each family will need to send the letter to their district. The district is required to provide funds as long as the student has registered with BOCES on time and submitted the request to the school board prior to June 1.
* When is the last day I can register for BOCES?
- New student (11th grade) registration must be completed through BOCES by March 18. Returning students (12th grade) must be completed by March 10. Registration opens at the beginning of January and is on a first come, first serve basis. It is highly recommended that interested students enroll as early as possible. Therefore to ensure entry into the desired program, students should re-enroll at CCA and turn in their BOCES registration form to the guidance office prior to Christmas break.
- However, in order to allow enough time for paperwork to be completed, the last day to turn in BOCES registration forms at CCA will be March 8.
* Is there an incremental cost to CCA families to attend BOCES?
- No. The home school district pays for each student in their district as long as the proper paperwork has been submitted. The School Counselor will provide families with a copy of the letter which each individual family must send to their school board to request payment for their child to attend BOCES.
* If I choose to attend BOCES, does my tuition at CCA change?
- No. Students enrolled in BOCES pay the same tuition and still are active and involved members of the CCA community. Students spend about 3/4th of their day at CCA, and CCA is covering the cost of transportation to BOCES as well as handling all the paperwork to allow students to attend BOCES. This is simply an extension of our programming and therefore does not affect tuition costs.
*What do junior and senior students who participate in the program give up at CCA by doing so?
BOCES students have fewer (or no) elective choices at CCA as their elective course is the program they are participating in at Harkness. Students will also not have any or very few study halls in their schedule as their time at CCA will be spent in core academic classes required for graduation.
Juniors will need to eat lunch before they leave for the program and since HS lunch happens during their program time, students will not have the chance to eat lunch with their peers but will eat before they go during the MS time.
Additionally, students in BOCES may occasionally miss school-wide assemblies if the time of the program conflicts. BOCES, however, is flexible and willing to work with our school in the event that there is something happening at school that a student needs to attend even if it is during the time of their BOCES program.
* Am I still eligible to take AP courses at CCA?
- We cannot guarantee scheduling for AP courses or dual enrollment classes at CCA. CCA will do our best to schedule students into English and History AP courses in their junior year. However, students who are interested in Science AP courses may need to shift those courses to their senior year so they will have time for the course and required labs to be scheduled during the day. Students interested in particular AP classes should so indicate on their course request forms and speak with the school counselor about any potential scheduling conflicts. As with any course at CCA, we try to accommodate student requests but there is always a chance that scheduling conflicts may prevent a student from taking certain courses.
- AP Students must be available to take their AP exams in May. Therefore, those students must miss those days at BOCES. Such a day is an excused absence but will require that missed time at BOCES be made up. Students will need to work with their teachers at Harkness to make up the time they missed during AP week.
* If I go to Harkness, can I still participate in sports, clubs, and after-school review at CCA?
- Yes. Students will return to CCA by 3:00 each day and therefore will be able to participate in all regular after school activities.
* What about the senior trip? What about the camp retreat in the Fall? Field Trips?
- At the start of the year, CCA provides the excused absences to BOCES which includes camp and the senior trip. Camp and the senior trip are required activities for CCA students and BOCES students should plan on attending. CCA will notify BOCES about field trips as we learn of them and the BOCES student may opt to attend the field trip or attend their BOCES program. BOCES students will be allowed to miss their Harkness program on those days, but will be responsible to make up any missed work from their program.
* What about Chapel? Will I miss that?
- No. CCA has worked the schedule so that Chapel occurs mid-morning allowing all students to participate in Chapel. Seniors will return to CCA in time.
*Will I still have to dress in dress code?
- Students will be required to be in dress code while at CCA but will follow the guidelines for dressing while in their program at Harkness. In certain programs, specific attire is required by BOCES (chef’s coat, medical scrubs, etc.) and students should follow those guidelines. Regardless of the clothing that students wear at BOCES, students are representing CCA and are expected to maintain the same level of modesty and appropriate dress.
* Am I still eligible for the same diplomas?
- Students attending Harkness will still be eligible for the same CCA diplomas and the same New York State diplomas. All diplomas offered by CCA will still apply.
* Will my graduation requirements be different?
- Students attending Harkness are still required to meet the same graduation requirements as all other CCA students. This includes the 22 credit hours of course-work as required by New York State. The only difference would be how some of those credits are obtained.The programs at BOCES give students the option to earn their 3rd Math and/or Science and/or English course credit. Should this be the case, students may opt to use that credit towards graduation. In the junior year, students will most likely not have time to take both Math and Science at CCA and may elect to choose one. Regardless of whether or not a student attends BOCES, they will still be responsible to ensure that all 22 credits are earned during HS in order to graduate on time.
BOCES students will still be required to obtain the following:
COURSE CREDITS OF COURSEWORK REQUIRED REGENTS EXAMS
English 4 English Language Arts- 11th Grade
History 4 Global History- 10th grade
US History- 11th grade
Math* 3 3 Required Exams
(Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II)
Science* 3 2 Exams Required
(Earth Sci, Biology, Chem or Physics)
Foreign Language (Spanish) 3 Comprehensive Spanish III Exam
Health ½ None
Art and/or Music 1 None
Physical Education 2 None
Electives (BIBLE) 3 ½ School Exams- No Regents
*Because certain BOCES programs offer a 3rd Math/Science/English credit, it may be possible for students to obtain this course credit through their BOCES program. Students should work with the school counselor to make sure that all graduation requirements are being met. Students should also understand that opting out of certain upper level Math and Science courses could affect acceptance to certain colleges/programs and/or students may be required to take remedial math and science in their first year of college.
* What credits do I earn at BOCES? Do I get college credit?
- Students attending BOCES earn 3.75 Career and Technical credits towards graduation each year for a total of 7 total credits. Credits will be reflected on the CCA transcript.
- The BOCES program is not a college. There are, however, advanced studies courses offered at Harkness to eligible students enrolled in a certain selection of programs during which students may receive college credits while attending BOCES (dual-enrollment).
- Additionally, the majority of the programs have agreements with particular colleges and universities to waive one or more courses for students entering specific courses or departments at those colleges. Students are encouraged to read those agreements in order to determine which course(s); earning which minimum grades; receive credit at which colleges.
* I plan to attend a BOCES program at Harkness. Do I still need to apply to college?
- YES. CCA is a college preparatory high school. As such, it is our expectation that all seniors apply to college. Even those students who attend BOCES and receive a career and technical certification should still plan to explore college options and as such are still required to apply to the minimum five colleges.
*What level of control/oversight will CCA have of the program?
- The structure of the program and the content of each course at BOCES is at the sole discretion of Erie 1 BOCES. The BOCES coordinator works with each individual school in regards to attendance, grading and issuing credits for graduation. There is also a level of communication between the School Counselors at BOCES and at CCA if a student need/issue should arise.
*Do you need to have a certain number of students signed up to make it work?
- No. CCA has elected to make this program available to any junior student who is interested. Seniors are eligible to participate after they have completed the 1st year at BOCES.
*Is every student eligible to participate? Are there any exceptions?
- Unfortunately, the BOCES program is not accepting students from the Buffalo school district since Buffalo schools have failed to pay the tuition costs for the BOCES programs.
* What happens at the end of the year when seniors are no longer required to attend classes?
- Seniors who participate in the BOCES program need to satisfy all requirements for their program. This includes attendance at Harkness until the completion of the program (mid June). Even though attendance at CCA for Seniors may not be required for most 12th grade classes after AP exam week, students attending BOCES will still need to attend their program and finish all requirements.
*It’s time to sign up for classes for next year, what should a BOCES student put on their course request form?
- General rule is that all students (BOCES or not) should request all the courses they wish to take next year on their form. We do our best to honor all requests and fit students into as many possible courses as their schedule will allow.
- However, a student attending BOCES will be limited on their choices here at CCA and a general guideline to selecting courses is the following:
11th Grade 12th Grade
Bible 11 Bible 12
English 11 or AP English Language English 12 or AP English Literature
US History or AP US History Government or AP Government
Economics
Physical Education (PE) Physical Education (PE)
*Math or Science *Math or Science
Spanish (if not completed in Gr. 10) Health
BOCES Elective BOCES Elective
*Since there will likely not be time for students to take both a math and science, CCA will waive the requirement to do both in 11th grade for BOCES students. Students may still opt to take a math or science at CCA and are encouraged to do so. Students who wish to do both may be able to work that into their schedule but may have to arrange to complete lab work before or after school. This will be at the discretion of the teacher.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? For any questions about the specific programs/courses that are offered, credits issued, program summaries, college credit connections and career paths for each program, please visit the Career and Technical Education website for program specifics: www.e1b.org/cte