Ground will be broken Wednesday morning at the future site of the Hardin County Schools Early College and Career Center. The effort is a collaboration between the school system and WKU, and will allow high school students in the Hardin County system to take classes during the academic year that will transform into college credit from WKU, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, or Sullivan University.
Hardin County Schools Superintendent Nannette Johnston says the Early College and Career Center is facing a strict construction deadline.
"I can sum it up in the one word: aggressive. Typically, we look at construction projects of this magnitude taking about 18 months. We want this project to be completed by August of 2014," Johnston told WKU Public Radio.
The Early College and Career Center will offer Hardin County students classes in fields such as engineering, manufacturing, automotive technology, media arts and communication, and culinary arts and hospitality services.
"The early college concept is for those students who have been very aggressive on their duel credit coursework, and maybe they've taken everything we have to offer in the district, and are wanting to continue to pursue duel credit opportunities," said Superintendent Johnston.
The Center is being built on land in Elizabethtown that was donated to WKU by the Central Kentucky Community Foundation in 2007.