Each student has the option to work towards graduating early, and if they choose to, will often graduate in December at the end of the first semester. However, a few students may choose to graduate a full year earlier.

“There’s a lot of personal reasons, like with my home life and stuff. But, I just had the opportunity to and I felt like I was ready to move on from my high school career. So I decided my sophomore year,” Ava Bates, 11, said.

If a student decides they want to finish school early they often have to stack

core classes to complete the needed credits in time.

“I started enrolling in extra classes at JCCC so I could finish all of my classes early and just planned stuff with my counselor to get me on track to graduate,” Bates said. “I took two [JCCC] classes last semester and two classes this semester. And I will start my nursing major over the summer, so I’m starting on my classes for that.”

Bates plans to eventually go to the University of Kentucky.

“I’m going to take a gap year and start college with my normal class. I’m getting my CNA at the end of May, so I wanted to work as that. I also wanted to travel a lot. I have a lot of family in other states, so I would visit them; reconnect with people and just try to figure a few things out before I start college. I am taking my pre-req classes online or through community colleges.”

Graduating a year before their class can force them to make decisions before most of the peers.

“It was just maturing, honestly, very fast. It definitely forced me to make choices, and this was definitely my personal choice, but it forced me to make choices about my future quicker than other people in my grade. Just realizing what I want to do and the person I want to be.”