High school students in Spalding County who are motivated to begin their college studies early may soon be able to do so in an actual college campus setting.

Gordon College, the University of Georgia and the Griffin-Spalding County School Systen are collaborating to create a program that would offer high school students an opportunity to take Gordon College courses at the UGA-Griffin campus, said Assistant Principal for K-12 Instruction Denise Burrell. The proposed name of the program is Gordon Academy at UGA.

Although Gordon already offers an English class at 7 a.m. on the Spalding High campus for students of Griffin and Spalding high schools, UGA-Griffin involvement would come with additional benefits, said Burrell, who updated the Board of Education on the issue at its Tuesday meeting.

“It takes students out of a high school environment and puts them on a college campus,” she said, adding that transportation for those students would not be an issue. “It also creates a wonderful relationship (for the school system) not only with Gordon, but with UGA-Griffin.”

While Burrell and Superintendent Curtis Jones are still working out the details of the program with Gordon President Lawrence Weill, Gordon Academy at UGA could be in place with the beginning of the next school year, she said.