It's official. Rockdale Career Academy students in the early childhood education and public safety pathways will now be able to earn college credit through a venture with Dekalb Technical College.

"We've set a curriculum initiative with courses at the secondary level similar or identical to courses at the post-secondary level so there's no need for high school students to duplicate a class when they get to college," said Roger Ivey,

RCA's Career, Technical & Agricultural Education Coordinator. In the last year, RCA and Dekalb Tech teachers worked together to develop a common syllabus, pacing guide and end-of-course assessment giving students college credit if they complete the articulated pathway and earn a satisfactory score on the exam.

Acting Dekalb Tech President Larry Teems is excited by the collaboration. "In this economy with the demands of the work force, the opportunity to save time and money by getting credits in the high school arena and being able to smoothly transition into the technical college setting is only going to be a great benefit to students, employers and the state."

Rebranding to better reflect their service area, two campuses and five centers located between Dekalb, Rockdale, Newton and Morgan counties, Dekalb Tech's name will become Georgia Piedmont Technical College this October.