1. What is the Freestyle-Foothill College Program?
• This is a program to enroll high school students in college-level courses so you can receive elective credit for the college level work you do at Freestyle Academy.
• Basically, when you complete a project at Freestyle, you submit the same project for Foothill and get college credit work for the project.
• You can choose to participate in up to 10 Foothill College courses over 2 years.
• You can potentially earn up to 10 college quarter units total = 20 MVLA credits over 2 years which is the equivalent of two extra MVLA elective classes.
• In a typical MVLA AP/Honors course, you can potentially earn 5.0 GPA points per semester instead of 4.0 GPA points and in 2 years of taking any MVLA AP/Honors class, you could potentially add 4 semesters x 5.0 = 20 GPA points (assuming you get an A in all the classes).
• With the Freestyle-Foothill Program, you can think of the required Freestyle Digital Media class as a Digital Media HONORS PLUS class because you can potentially earn 50.0 GPA points over 2 years. Specifically, each of the 10 Freestyle-Foothill courses potentially adds 5.0 points to your GPA, - that’s 10 classes x 5.0 = 50.0 GPA points over 2 years (assuming you get an A in all the classes).
2. Who is it meant for?
• Only Freestyle Academy students are eligible for this program.
3. Is there any cost to high school students?
• There is no cost to any high school student to take classes at Foothill, as long as they stay at 10 college units or less per quarter. Ten college units is the student’s TOTAL number of college units allowed for ALL Foothill (Freestyle related or not) courses enrolled in for any quarter for any high school student.
4. Will students get college credit for these courses?
• Yes, students can potentially get 5 college quarter units = 10 MVLA Credits for each school year for courses successfully completed, and this information would appear on a Foothill transcript and/or your MVLA transcript.
• The courses are LINC Classes where LINC = LEARNING IN NEW MEDIA CLASSROOMS which is part of the Foothill College Business and Social Sciences Department - see https://foothill.edu/bss/
• Course Descriptions are posted on https://catalog.foothill.edu/courses-az/linc/
• In two years, a student could accumulate a total of 10 college quarter units of credit = 20 MVLA credits with these classes:

5. Do I have to spend extra time on these projects?
• Other than the initial application time and a few minutes to actually submit a Freestyle completed project when done, no additional time is required.
6. SPECIAL ADMIT & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT FORM
• Three times per year (Fall / Winter / Spring ) for each phase of the program, you will receive via email a pre-filled paper form called “SPECIAL ADMIT & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT FORM”
• Why? Foothill College requires that parents sign a form EVERY quarter so that parents know that each student is taking a college class.
• Expect 3 forms each year - Fall / Winter / Spring (no Summer form).
• The pre-filled form only requires a parent signature (leave Principal signature blank) and the form must be submitted by these deadlines:
  
  • 9/17/202# for Phase 1: Fall 202#
  • 1/17/202# for Phase 2: Winter 202#
  • 4/17/202# for Phase 3: Spring 202#
  
  Failure to submit the signed form will result in being dropped from the classes for that phase.
7. Does the student have to participate all school year?
• A student can decide to join or not for every phase - Fall / Winter / Spring. But Part 1 (big yellow box below) and Part 3 (green box below) below needs to be completed at most once (usually only in the Fall) to get the student into the system.
• Submitting the “SPECIAL ADMIT & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT FORM” and a current unofficial MVLA Transcript will indicate that you want to participate in that Phase.
• NOT submitting the “SPECIAL ADMIT & HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT FORM” and a current unofficial MVLA Transcript will indicate that you do NOT want to participate in that Phase.
8. Where will I find the coursework?
• Coursework will be defined in Foothill College’s Canvas Learning Management System.
• Mr. Florendo will be the instructor of record. No other Freestyle teachers are the teacher of record.
• Work completed by students will be digitally submitted through the Foothill College Canvas system. Students will be provided information on how to turn work in at Freestyle through Foothill’s Canvas System.
• Letter grades will be given, based upon the teacher’s rubrics and expectations. Check your grades on Foothill’s Canvas System.
9. What happens if I don‘t complete the assignment(s)?
• Max 100% on time. Late assignments have a maximum of 79.9% B+.
• Not submitting an assignment at all will result in a 0% = F. The F is a permanent record on your transcript. It’s better to submit late for a reduced grade than not submit at all for an F.
10. Do I have to go to the Foothill Campus?
• Students will NOT be required to physically go to Foothill College at any time. It’s all done online.
11. Why should I do this? Why should I start collecting college credit in High School?
• You can potentially get a maximum of 10 college quarter units of credit = 20 MVLA credits which is the equivalent of two year long classes such as any elective at MVHS/LAHS. Essentially, you take 3 classes at Freestyle but with this Freestyle/Foothill Program, you can get credit for at least 4 classes and some phases, 5 classes!
• You can request Foothill College to send an official transcript to LAHS/MVHS so your courses can be added to your high school transcript. By doing so, you could improve your high school GPA - assuming you do the Foothill College course assignments properly and get a good grade. Getting an A in a Foothill course is calculated into your GPA as a 5.0 instead of the usual high school 4.0 per non-Honors/AP class. The opposite is also true - getting a bad grade will possibly bring your high school GPA down.
• Whether you plan to get a 4 year college degree or not, having a class on a transcript is important as it helps prove to an employer that you possess a specific skill. When starting out, being able to show a possible employer that you can do multiple things is very important. That one class in video or in graphic arts might make the difference for you getting a job. Also, you may want to work part time while you are going to school, so having documentable skills on a transcript is definitely helpful.
12. When do I get Foothill Transcripts?
• Foothill course grades still won’t show up until the end of the Foothill quarter. You will be able to see them online, but would not be able to get an Official Transcript until the final grades are posted at the end of the Foothill quarter (January, April, and July).
• Viewing your Foothill College Transcript https://freestyleacademy.rocks/foothill-view-transcript
• Ordering your Foothill College Transcript https://freestyleacademy.rocks/foothill-order-transcript
13. What’s this going to do for me once I actually go to college?
• Most of the credits students will earn are “elective credit” unless they are going into graphic arts or education fields. Having credits on your transcript that will transfer with you to a CSU or a private college are units you don’t have to take AND don’t have to pay for later on. The units you collect now in high school are for free AND are units later on you will not have to pay for. Three units at a CSU school will cost about $800; at a private college, it will be MUCH more such at $10,000 or more depending upon the cost of tuition at the college. Some Freestyle Alumni come back and report that they have have been able to graduate early because of the credits they have earned in high school and applied to college graduation.
14. Will this increase my chances of getting into certain schools when I start applying?
• It is likely that having a good grade and completed units on a transcript will positively influence the likelihood of acceptance.
15. What would the college credits actually go to for school, meaning for electives or a specific class?
• You will typically be earning elective credit that you will not have to take or pay for when at a Community College, CSU, or private school.
• ASSIST.org is the go-to website to determine if courses you take at a California community college will transfer to UC schools.
• Your courses are from Foothill College’s Learning in New Media Classrooms (LINC), within the Fine Arts and & Communications department.
16. Does the college credit count for all colleges?
• The LINC class units are transferable to all CSUs and private colleges. LINC = LEARNING IN NEW MEDIA CLASSROOMS through the Foothill College Business and Social Sciences Department - see https://foothill.edu/bss/
• As for UC Schools, according to the UC Application website, these LINC classes should be listed under the Activities and Awards section:
• Activities & Awards
• This is your opportunity to tell us about what you’re most proud of outside the classroom. We’re looking for quality, not quantity ­– so make sure to focus on the activities and awards that are most important to you.
• You’ll need classify each activity/award as one of six categories: Award or honor, Educational preparation programs (any programs that have enriched your academic experiences or helped you prepare for college), Extracurricular activity, Other coursework (courses other than those required for UC admission/courses that do not fit in UC’s A-G subject areas), Volunteering/Community service and Work Experience.

Registering for Foothill College Classes

This part needs to be done ONLY ONCE EACH SCHOOL YEAR at Freestyle - usually only in the Fall. Ultimately, I need to get a CWID (Campus Wide ID) number from you to enroll you in the proper classes. It’s an 8 digit number, no letters - something like this:

You must apply to become a Community College student and then get the CWID. Following instructions in yellow and green boxes below.