Seen in classrooms, the lecture hall, and the library, dual credit teachers have an interesting job when it comes to teaching at the school. Not employed by the school district, dual credit teachers come from Collin College to provide seniors with actual college courses.

For Collin College teacher Joel Spina, a dual credit economics class means being at the school on Tuesday and Thursday during 1st and 7th period. Yet despite teaching at a high school, his teaching style doesn’t differ.

“It’s exactly the same criteria, grading and everything because you get Collin credit,” Spina said.

For Spina, life at the high school isn’t much different.

“It’s okay teaching here and I live close by so I come here, teach, and then go to my next campus,” Spina said. “It’s no problem.”

The students don’t pose a problem either.

“I like [teaching at the school], usually dual credit students are well prepared,” Spina said. “I have no problems.”

Meanwhile, dual credit algebra teacher Duc Phan doesn’t hold back when it comes to the level of difficulty in his class.

“I actually go a bit harder because I have higher expectations of students here,” Phan said. “I know that most of you guys have already taken calculus or pre calculus so I am a lot harder.”

Compared to teaching at a college, Phan does let up a bit when it comes to the high school classes.

“I’m a little bit more lax and chill here because I get to know everybody, and y’all are more interactive,” Phan said “You’re not really shy. College students, especially freshmen, are shy and they don’t want to ask a lot of questions. So they’re like sitting in the back and don’t really care, but you guys are more interactive and I like that. Which is why I prefer teaching here rather than Collin or other colleges.”

Even though Phan enjoys his time at the school, it’s not the same as teaching at a college.

“I have to drive back and forth [from Lovejoy and home]. Normally when I schedule at Collin, I have class back to back to back so I only have to come to school once,” Phan said. “But when I teach here, I have to come back twice [once in the morning and then again in the afternoon]. And I live like 30 minutes from here, so it’s hard. And because the time difference is so great, (there’s four hours in between), I have to go home because I don’t want to hang around Allen for 4 hours. It takes up a lot of time.”

For senior Donnelle Branche, there are notable differences between a high school teacher and a college one.

“They don’t baby you,” Branche said. “There is no late work with Collin, it’s not like you can just turn in something late and get a late grade. They won’t accept it. It’s kind of harsh but they let certain [other] things slide that high school teachers wouldn’t. They are pretty chill.”