Officials from the Asbury Park School District and Brookdale Community College stand with the inaugural members of the Asbury Park Dream Academy Early College program during a signing ceremony in Lincroft on Aug. 4. Photo by Brookdale Community College.

Officials from the Asbury Park School District and Brookdale Community College signed off Aug. 4 on the Asbury Park Dream Academy Early College Program, which will allow eligible students to earn an associate degree by the time they graduate from high school.

Beginning this fall, 15 Asbury Park High School (APHS) freshmen will supplement their traditional coursework with college-level courses taught by Brookdale faculty in Asbury Park.

In their junior year Dream Academy students will begin taking courses at Brookdale’s Higher Education Center in Wall, before becoming full-time Brookdale students and completing their senior year on the college’s Lincroft campus. Successful Dream Academy students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in social science, ready to begin their junior year of college.

Brookdale, NJ Transit Announce Improved Bus Routes

An NJ TRANSIT bus featuring a Brookdale Community College banner travels through Monmouth County. New and improved bus routes rolled out this fall will increase access and cut down on commute times for Brookdale students. Photo by Brookdale Community College.

Big improvements are coming for students who take NJ TRANSIT to Brookdale. Beginning on Sept. 3, NJ TRANSIT will unveil new and adjusted bus routes in Monmouth and Middlesex counties that will offer more frequent service, longer hours of operation, fewer required connections and direct access for students attending classes in Lincroft and Hazlet.

Twenty Graduate From Free Welding Training Program

Graduates of a free welding training program hosted in Toms River this summer stand with officials from Brookdale Community College and the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders on June 22. Photo by Brookdale Community College.

In just over two months, twenty previously unemployed residents from Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties have become certified, in-demand professionals, thanks to a free welding training program offered through Brookdale and Ocean County College (OCC).

The 171-hour program, which ran from April 15 to June 20 in Toms River, taught students a wide range of hands-on skills and basic industry knowledge, including arc welding, welding fabrication, blueprint reading, resume writing and job search skills.

The students – hailing from towns such as Middletown, Red Bank, Freehold, Neptune City, Holmdel and Brick – also participated in site visits to area businesses, interviewed with local employers and sat for an American Welding Society certification exam, getting a jump-start on their job search before completing the program.