For the third year in a row, the Gateway to College Program at Montgomery County Community College has received Achieving the Dream’s Program Excellence Award for its success in helping students reach their academic goals.

As part of the Achieving the Dream national network that promotes community college reform and student success, Gateway to College and MCCC’s dedicated faculty and staff help students stay on track to complete the requirements they need for their high school graduation and earn college credits. Since MCCC launched the program in 2013 at its Blue Bell and Pottstown campuses, more than 200 students have earned their high school diplomas, and many students continue taking classes at MCCC.

For the Program Excellence Award, Achieving the Dream reviews the data for the previous academic year and the outcomes in the areas of first-term success, one-year persistence, two-year persistence and three-year graduation rate. The award is presented to programs that exceed all four benchmarks.

MCCC’s Gateway Program is one of only two programs in Pennsylvania and is among 31 national programs in 19 states across the country. 

“I am incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication of the Gateway staff, faculty and administrators to support our students in getting to program completion. This has been such a challenging year of transitions, but our students have weathered the storm and found ways to stay anchored to their goal of academic completion,” said Dr. Keima Sheriff, Assistant Dean of Student Programs. “While Gateway to College is not a panacea for all students, it does continue to serve as a beacon for students who are searching for a way to complete high school but feel disconnected from the traditional educational model. Congratulations all for a strong and successful year!”

MCCC’s Gateway team includes Dr. Sheriff; Resource Specialists Jezerey Weiderman and Esau Collins; faculty Diane McDonald, Karen Harding-Tasca, Stephanie Wuertz, Jessica Dalcanton, Tracey Fida, Geraldine Plaisir, Timothy Gallagher and Durrell Jones; and Administrative Support Secretary Constance Stebbins.

On Oct. 2, MCCC held a drive-in ceremony in the parking lot of its Blue Bell Campus to celebrate the graduation of 23 Gateway students with their families and friends, who watched the ceremony in the parked vehicles.

MCCC partners with 19 school districts – Boyertown, Cheltenham, Colonial, Daniel Boone, Exeter, Hatboro-Horsham, Jenkintown, Norristown, North Penn, Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville, Pottsgrove, Souderton, Upper Dublin, Upper Merion, Upper Moreland, Upper Perkiomen and Wissahickon – and Montco WorksNow, the County’s workforce investment board, which refer students to the program.

Additionally, partners Waste Management, PECO, Univest, TD Bank, the Kahn family, the Maguire Foundation, the Malik family, Ambler Savings, Thompkins VIST Bank, First Priority Bank and the Gateway to College National Network have provided financial support for the program and student scholarships.

PECO, who has been a longstanding partner since 2013, provided laptops to Gateway students who needed them during the pandemic so they could continue taking their classes online.

In addition to the Program Excellence Award, MCCC’s Gateway program was one of only 10 community college programs nationwide to be named a finalist for the prestigious 2018 Bellwether Award in the Instructional Programs & Services Category.