Along with AP and honors classes, Shadow Ridge offers dual credit classes to students who want to get ahead while they’re still in high school. The credits that students receive in these classes goes towards both their high school diploma and the college of their choice, and the credit will transfer to any college or university in Nevada thanks to Shadow’s partnership with NSC. 

Tiffany Beckham, a dual credit teacher here at Shadow, teaches dual credit American History and Psychology to juniors and seniors. Ms. Beckham recommends dual credit to students who want to challenge themselves or get ahead in college.

“This is my 2nd year teaching dual credit at Shadow Ridge. I would highly recommend that students who plan on attending any college, university or junior college take advantage of the dual credit classes at Shadow Ridge,” she said. “It is a great way to challenge yourself academically, and it is also a great opportunity to get ahead with your college coursework.”

The dual credit courses that are currently offered at Shadow include the following;

American History 101 (available to juniors)

American History 102 (available to juniors)

English Composition 101 (available to seniors)

English Composition 102 (available to seniors)

Psychology 100 (available to juniors and seniors)

Sociology 100 (available to juniors and seniors)

“If a student takes all of the dual credit courses offered at Shadow they could earn 18 college credits by the time they graduate from high school,” said Ms. Beckham. “Each class is worth 3 college credits. Students earn credit upon completion of each class with a grade of a C or higher. Students earn both high school and college credit for dual credit classes.”

Annalise Welker, a junior in dual credit history and psychology, feels the benefits of taking dual credit courses over other challenging classes are undeniable. “Dual credit is better than AP because you get double the credit and you don’t have to take a test,” she said.

Although the credits don’t count at every single university, they are accepted by a good percentage of schools across the country, and look good on a transcript either way. 

“All of the courses are transferable to any public college or university in Nevada.  Additionally the vast majority of public colleges and universities nationwide accept these courses as well,” Ms. Beckham explained. “Students can use this link to check and see how dual credit courses will transfer to thier potential college or university: https://webapps.nsc.edu/tes”