Snoqualmie Valley School District Running Start students may soon have a new college campus option for their dual credit courses. 
Currently Bellevue College is the closest option for SVSD Running Start students, but if a deal between the City of Sammamish and Central Washington University works out, CWU will be bringing a campus to the Eastside in the Fall of 2017.
In January 2016 the City of Sammamish asked CWU to consider bringing programming to the community inside the former Mars Hll Church that the city purchased in March 2015. The 22 acre property on 228th Ave NE already has a two-story, 31,000 square foot multipurpose facility on it.
A city survey indicated residents had a desire for more local, postsecondary programming options – with a strong demand for Running Start noted by CWU.
The City of Sammaish and CWU have conducted meetings and tours of the former Mars Hill facility over the past year to see if the partnership might be a fit at the site. According to the Issaquah Reporter, last week the CWU Board of Trustees directed President Guadino to develop a plan for the university to come to Sammamish.
According to an information summary from the Board of Trustees October 20th meeting, citing a strong commitment to partnership from the City of Sammamish, CWU is pursuing bringing a campus to the Eastside, including a full collection of Running Start courses tailored to secondary school needs, for fall 2017. Also possible next fall are professional education options and quarterly community outreach events/enrichment.
Currently Mount Si High School has 317 juniors and seniors (about 35%) participating in the Running Start program at Bellevue College that allows them to earn dual high school and college credits. The popularity of the program has dramatically increased at Mount Si in the past two years – with the number of Running Start students tripling.
