Jasper is a College Preparatory (CP) program. A few important considerations:
1. All Jasper courses are taught at the College Preparatory (CP) level.
This means that our courses follow a similar curriculum and also have NCAA approval - not any different than traditional CP courses.
Don't forget - Jasper courses are only part of the students' schedules. There is still room to take many other courses, including AP courses, dual enrollment courses, or other courses at the Honors level, such as Honors math courses and electives in Project Lead the Way.
Don't forget - Jasper courses are only part of the students' schedules. There is still room to take many other courses, including AP courses, dual enrollment courses, or other courses at the Honors level, such as Honors math courses and electives in Project Lead the Way.
2. Research supports project-based learning even in AP courses
Project-based learning (for some) can be a scary thing because of the unknown, it might be new, or there are questions about how this helps students in an educational system with so many tests. There are many misconceptions that exist about project-based learning, but please consider this quote from a recent article published in November 2021 about a project-based approach called Knowledge in Action (KIA):
"Nothing is lost by giving students more opportunities to work productively in groups, participate in classroom debates, provide feedback to peers, learn time-management skills, practice leadership, and refine their verbal and written communication skills. To the contrary, KIA students’ AP scores were better than those of peers who took lecture-based courses, and their teachers reported that they were more engaged in class and had more opportunities to develop real-world skills. Moreover, students tended to recognize the differences between the PBL approach and lecture-based AP classes and to report that there were significant benefits to KIA’s hands-on assignments, group work, emphasis on civic engagement, and overall approach to preparing for AP exams."
To read the full research, click below:
"Nothing is lost by giving students more opportunities to work productively in groups, participate in classroom debates, provide feedback to peers, learn time-management skills, practice leadership, and refine their verbal and written communication skills. To the contrary, KIA students’ AP scores were better than those of peers who took lecture-based courses, and their teachers reported that they were more engaged in class and had more opportunities to develop real-world skills. Moreover, students tended to recognize the differences between the PBL approach and lecture-based AP classes and to report that there were significant benefits to KIA’s hands-on assignments, group work, emphasis on civic engagement, and overall approach to preparing for AP exams."
To read the full research, click below:
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3. The Jasper portfolio and experiences are an opportunity to stand out in the application process
To understand and appreciate the answer to this question, it is important to know what opportunities students will have with the program:
1. Students will have a portfolio showcasing 4 years worth of projects. Students will be able to use this portfolio to show what they have accomplished and can display characteristics and qualities of themselves as a learner. When colleges ask our students what they actually did in high school, this portfolio will serve as proof.
2. The projects, learning experiences, collaboration opportunities, and internship experiences will add to their resumes and add to what students to write about in a college essay or discuss in any college/job interview.
1. Students will have a portfolio showcasing 4 years worth of projects. Students will be able to use this portfolio to show what they have accomplished and can display characteristics and qualities of themselves as a learner. When colleges ask our students what they actually did in high school, this portfolio will serve as proof.
2. The projects, learning experiences, collaboration opportunities, and internship experiences will add to their resumes and add to what students to write about in a college essay or discuss in any college/job interview.
4. There is still the safety and security of an Emmaus High School transcript
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Jasper students get an Emmaus High School transcript that is almost identical to non-Jasper students. The only differences would be the courses taken. If you click on the transcript image, you'll see that nowhere on there does it say Jasper. You will see Design & Development though. Our students will submit transcripts with the same strong reputation as their classmates.
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5. Yes, colleges accept students from project-based schools
Our first cohort of Jasper students is currently in 12th grade and applying to colleges. The image below shows the colleges our Jasper students have been accepted to, as of January 2, 2024:
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There are several programs that serve as inspiration for Jasper. Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia is one of those. SLA offers a rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum with a focus on inquiry-based science, technology, mathematics and entrepreneurship that exceeds Pennsylvania State academic standards. Students learn in a 21st Century, project-based environment where all classes emphasize the core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflection.
If you're interested how colleges might view students from SLA, please click on the list to see which colleges accepted SLA students in 2021. |
6. College admissions are changing: test-optional, test-flexible, test-blind, etc...
The college admissions landscape is simply different than any other time. It is important to know that colleges are starting to change their application process.
- Wake Forest University is a great example of a school that is test-optional permanently and this link takes you to a page that provides their reasons for making test scores optional as part of the application process. They have been test-optional for years, but more and more are now starting to do it as a result of the pandemic.
- Bucknell is test-optional as part of a 5-year pilot and they also have a helpful page explaining their test optional admissions.
- Some colleges have even gone test-blind and will not consider test scores.
Spend some time and check out different universities and their admissions process. According to Spark Admissions, here are some of the larger universities who have gone test-optional permanently:
American University, Arizona, Arizona State, Ball State, Bloomsburg, Colorado (Boulder) Colorado State, Creighton, Davidson, DePaul, Fairfield, Fairleigh Dickinson, Furman, George Mason, George Washington, Gettysburg, Gonzaga, Hartford, Hofstra, Indiana University, IUP, Ithaca, James Madison, Johnson & Wales, Kansas, Loyola University, Michigan State, Muhlenberg, Old Dominion, Oregon, Oregon State, Wake Forest
American University, Arizona, Arizona State, Ball State, Bloomsburg, Colorado (Boulder) Colorado State, Creighton, Davidson, DePaul, Fairfield, Fairleigh Dickinson, Furman, George Mason, George Washington, Gettysburg, Gonzaga, Hartford, Hofstra, Indiana University, IUP, Ithaca, James Madison, Johnson & Wales, Kansas, Loyola University, Michigan State, Muhlenberg, Old Dominion, Oregon, Oregon State, Wake Forest
7. You have the support of a great team
Our Jasper team of educators is invested in the future success of all our students. We have every intention of helping our students reach their goals after high school.
