WESTFIELD – Westfield State University has signed an articulation agreement with Westfield High School for its Chapter 74 Criminal Justice pathway to award up to 18 credits to students who have successfully completed the pathway.
“Our newest articulation agreement with Westfield State University for students studying Criminal Justice and Public Safety at Westfield High School is truly exciting. Eighteen credits represent more than a semester of college coursework, giving our students a tremendous academic and financial advantage,” said Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski.
“Students in our Criminal Justice Program can also take advantage of the Westfield Promise Early College Program with Westfield State University and earn up to thirty college credits by the time they graduate from high school,” Czaporowski added.
WHS Criminal Justice teacher Kara LaValley said the students will receive the WSU credits if they stay in the pathway all four years. She said moving forward, WSU will also offer Intro to Psychology at WHS in the fall of junior year and Intro to Sociology in the fall of senior year. “This is in addition to the classes that they are already taking during the spring semester of junior and senior year.”
Students in the pathway will receive three credits each for Intro to Criminal Justice and Intro to Corrections, taught by LaValley in their freshman and sophomore years; Intro to Psychology and American Judicial Systems as juniors, taught by WSU professors, and Intro to Sociology and Criminal Investigation/Homicide as seniors, also taught by WSU professors, for a total of 18 credits.
LaValley said the students will have more than one college semester under their belt before they graduate high school. She said the articulation agreement allows them to get credit for the Introduction to Criminal Justice and Introduction to Corrections courses that she teaches.
LaValley attended Westfield State University as an undergraduate studying criminal justice and psychology, and received her master’s in forensic psychology from American International College, which she defined as “psychology of the criminal mind.” She began teaching criminal justice at WHS in November 2020, and the program received Chapter 74 certification in 2023.
Besides teaching, she works per diem on the psychiatric unit for the Hampden County Department of Corrections. “For the jail, it’s more providing treatment to people with mental disorders also involved in the criminal justice system,” she said in an earlier interview.
LaValley said the articulation agreement is only between WSU and WHS. However, she intends to apply as a criminal justice professor at WSU, so that the credits that she teaches may be transferable to other schools.
Currently, there are 70 students enrolled in the criminal justice program at WHS, more than half of them freshmen. Last year was LaValley’s first graduating class, and this year, four students will complete all four years.
LaValley said students studying criminal justice may pursue several career tracks, including local and state police, criminology, crime data and FBI. Other tracks include crime lab work, which is more science-based and mental health. Her own master’s is in forensic psychology.
Her students are interested in entering law school, policing, or SWAT; she has students in the Westfield Police Cadets right now, and some who are more interested in the mental health side of the profession. “I told them the whole corrections system has so many different avenues if you go through the Academy — truancy officer, parks, marine units — so many.”
“I think they like it,” LaValley said about the program at WHS. She said the best part of adding the psychology and sociology classes in the pathway is that the students like taking AP classes and were having trouble fitting both in their schedules.
“I think they’re enjoying it. They’re getting a bunch of certifications,” LaValley said.
