The Woodlands Real Estate Blog

Of the 45,000 academic students enrolled in the five campuses of North Harris Montgomery Community College system (NHMCC) more than 8,000 of them will be attending the Montgomery College campus serving The Woodlands and South Montgomery County.

There are several new certification programs being offered this year for automotive technicians, emergency response and real estate. ""For the first time this fall we will be offering academic credit for our auto technician program. It is still something the public can participate in, but our academic students will now be able to receive college credit for the course,"" said Steve Scheffler, dean of college relations for Montgomery College.

The automotive technician program is being offered in partnership with Conroe Independent School District. Classes will be held at Conroe High School. This fall, the auto tech program will be presented in the evenings. Weekday classes will begin in the spring semester. ""It will be taught by instructors from our college. We prepare the students for National Automotive Technical Education Foundation (NATEF) certification. We have developed relationships with auto dealer and repair center in the area. They helped design the program so our students will be prepared to go to work upon completion of the class,"" Scheffler said.

Take a look at two other programs being offered this year. Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training and Real Estate Inspector Certification. The CERT program is being offered free of charge by the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management. The real estate inspector certification program offers two levels of training:

Real Estate inspector and professional inspector. This is an extensive program that requires 120 classroom hours for inspector certification and 448 classroom hours for professional inspector certification. The first part for the program begins in October and runs for eight weeks on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

In addition, some 1,200 adult members (age 50-plus) of the Academy for Lifelong Learning (ALL) at Montgomery College will participate throughout the year in a wide variety of classes designed for continued intellectual and personal growth. Some of those classes include computer training, golf, health and wellness, nature and environment as well as social activities.

Performing arts is one of Montgomery College's fastest-growing academic programs. Scheffler said, ""We have seen a large increase over the last few years in our music, theatre and art programs as we have up-graded our performing arts facilities, technology-wise, and have some more promotion and marketing in those areas.""

Montgomery College also works with area high schools through dual credit programs. ""Some of our students get their associates degrees at the same time they graduate from high school,"" Scheffler said. The college partners with Conroe ISD, the northern part of Klein ISD, Willis ISD, some of Spring ISD and parts of Magnolia. The entire NHMCC system serves 11 school districts in north Harris and south Montgomery counties. Montgomery college is at 3200 College Park Drive.

For information, visit online at www.montgomery-college.com