Rio Hondo Offers Priority Registration for 2017 High School Graduates
Class of 2017 high school graduates may register for Rio Hondo College classes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 12 through a priority registration program that is part of the new Rio Promise. Students can register at Rio Hondo College’s Learning Resource Center, at Whittier High School, the Rio Hondo College Educational Center at Pico Rivera or the College’s El Monte Educational Center. The Rio Promise also waives first-year tuition for students from public and private high schools in the College’s service area. To qualify, students must submit a fall application, assessment, orientation and educational plan by Friday, June 30. For information, call 562-463-4693 or email outreach@riohondo.edu.
Rio Hondo College will host up to 50 members of the Boys & Girls Club of Whittier from 12:30 to 5 p.m. June 19-22 at Camp Rio, a weeklong exploration of science, career technical education and physical fitness activities. The program, piloted in 2016, is designed to engage children ages 11-13 in exciting, academic-focused summer activities that inspire interest in college attendance. Activities include workshops on solar power, drone technology, public safety careers, poetry, American Sign Language, origami and hip-hop dance. The camp also features a soccer clinic, a basketball skills session and a swim at the campus pool. Faculty across Rio Hondo College’s academic divisions are offering their time to facilitate the workshops. The camp will be held at Rio Hondo College, 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier.
Rio Hondo College Confers Record Number of Degrees
Follow-up Story: Downey attorney Ricardo Perez, who has helped helm Rio Hondo College’s innovative Pathway to Law School program, urged graduates at the College’s 54th annual Commencement Ceremony on May 25 to seek out tough challenges because they bring equally great rewards. Perez told graduates how President John F. Kennedy set a goal for landing on the Moon – not because it was easy, but because it was hard. This year, 1,553 Rio Hondo College students earned a record 2,154 degrees in summer/fall 2016 and spring/summer 2017. The number includes 793 degrees for transfer, which guarantee admission to Cal State University campuses. Photos are available
More than 100 Rio Hondo College students studying nursing, public safety and theatre arts will apply skills learned in their respective divisions as they collaborate in responding to a staged crisis event at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday, May 12. The fifth annual crisis response simulation – held twice to accommodate the high number of participants – will test students’ ability to apply classroom learning to hands-on emergency. The event will be held at Rio Hondo College's Administration of Justice Annex, Rio Hondo College, 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier.
Rio Hondo College will hold its 54th annual Commencement Ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 25 at Parking Lot A of the hilltop campus at 3600 Workman Mill Road, Whittier. The ceremony will recognize more than 1,500 students who earned degrees in summer/fall 2016 or spring/summer 2017, including those who have earned degrees that guarantee acceptance to California State University campuses.
Rio Hondo College on announced the Rio Hondo College Promise, a student support program launching in 2017-18 that includes free tuition for the first year and priority registration for 2017 graduates of all Whittier Union, El Monte Union and El Rancho Unified high schools and private schools within the college service area.
Rio Hondo College’s annual Writes of Spring – a celebration of regional literature and art set for Wednesday, April 19 and Thursday, April 20 – will feature novelist Lissa Price, newspaper editor and columnist Gustavo Arellano, musician Phranc, poet Siel Ju, sports journalist Dylan Hernandez and novelist Jeff Garvin. The event will include readings from the student literary journal, River’s Voice. Events begin at 8:05 a.m. each day at the Wray Theater, 3600 N. Workman Mill Road, Whittier.
Four Los Angeles area attorneys whose practices range from child advocacy, DUI and eviction to family law, bankruptcy and criminal law will headline a two-hour panel on law school and legal careers at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 13 at Rio Hondo College. The panel is being organized by Rio Hondo College’s Pathway to Law School program, one of 28 such programs hosted across the state that guides students from community college, through four-year institutions and into law school. The program targets underrepresented, first year students and partners with six California law schools.
Students in Rio Hondo College’s El Monte Pledge program are achieving success at substantially higher rates than other U.S community college students, according to a new report. These students have completed certificates, degrees and achieved transfer readiness with the help of a slate of services that are being expanded to the entire student body because of their proved effectiveness, according to a Rio Hondo College report released in February.
Whittier Union Partners with Rio Hondo College to Offer College Course
Whittier Union High School District has partnered with Rio Hondo College to offer students in its three alternative programs the opportunity to take a college-level course at their home campus this semester. Nearly 40 students from Frontier High School, a continuation school, Sierra Vista High School, an independent studies school, and Whittier Adult School are taking a three-unit introductory sociology course that is transferable to a community college, four-year California State University or University of California institution. It is the first time in eight years that a Rio Hondo College course has been offered at the Sierra Education Center campus, where the three schools are based.
