This year, Jay DeMatteo was one of several diligent teens in Mercer County to earn not just one, but two diplomas.
The Robbinsville High School graduate—now a rising Junior at Rowan University—was a successful participant in the state’s Jump Start dual enrollment program.
Jay graduated Mercer County Community College with his associate degree in criminal justice on May 18 with a 3.7 grade point average and from RHS on June 16.
“I feel proud and empowered in many ways that I received my high school diploma and associate degree simultaneously,” says Jay, who spent much of his young childhood in the foster care system.
“For so many years, I questioned many things about myself; however, reaching this goal reaffirmed the fact that if given a chance, there is nothing I can’t do or learn,” he adds. “I need the right opportunities with people who believe in me. Many people gave up on me or never took the time to give me a chance. I always give 100% in everything I do; sometimes, I learn differently.”
Dual enrollment is a standardized way to refer to programs that allow students to take college courses to fulfill their high school’s course requirements. In New Jersey, there are multiple variants of dual enrollment. The Jump Start program is the most involved, allowing students to matriculate and earn an associate degree by the end of their senior year of high school.
Kim DeMatteo, Jay’s mother, says she was apprehensive of Jump Start when she was informed about it by Jay’s guidance counselor at RHS. She had wanted her son to have the traditional high school experience that he was deprived of due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck in Jay’s freshman year. Jay and his mom had only moved to Robbinsville one year prior, when Jay was in eighth grade.
Jay says his fatigue of virtual learning drove him to seek other options for schooling. With his mother’s tentative blessing, he enrolled in a military boarding school at the start of his junior year.
By winter break of that year, the school announced they too would be going virtual after winter break, presumably due to the increasing prevalence of the Omicron variant.
“They wanted them to stay in their barracks all day long and do virtual education,” Kim explains. “In my mind that didn’t work.”
Coming home from boarding school was ultimately what led Jay to speak to his guidance counselor, Lindsay Richard, to see how he could reintegrate into RHS. Since the school he was attending in the first half of the year operated on a semester system, she informed him that he was ahead of his classmates.
Both Jay and his mother were unaware of this option until Richard enlightened him about his eligibility.
“She gave him two options,” Kim says. “Either to graduate high school a year early or be a junior and get out of school at 11 a.m.”
Technically, RHS students were required to apply to the Jump Start program in August, before the school year began, but Richard managed to get Jay into the program in the middle of the school year.
“I was very lucky to have her on my side and always advocate for me,” Jay says of Richard.
Once he was in Jump Start, Jay would start each school day at RHS. After that, he would take classes at Mercer County Community College.
“My schedule at Mercer varied, depending on the semester,” Jay says. “Regardless, endless hours were spent daily completing the work, whether it was writing papers, studying for tests, completing group projects or attending tutoring sessions for statistics.”
“He started with three classes (at MCCC), in the spring of his junior year, and then he just soared. He did summer session one, two and three,” Kim says.
In the fall of his senior year, Jay was taking 18 credits at MCCC and two classes at RHS. However, in order to successfully complete the program, he knew he had to compromise on some things.
“I am incredibly passionate about all sports,” Jay says. “However, when I learned I could actually graduate before high school graduation, the realization that I could not do it all became evident.”
To maintain his course schedule at Mercer, Jay opted to join a basketball team outside of RHS instead of playing for the school’s team. Structured team sports outside of the school offered more flexibility in the evening hours.
In addition to playing basketball, Jay worked part time and volunteered.
According to both Jay and his mother, the benefits of the Jump Start program went far past shaving two years off college. The guidance and feedback he received from the professors and staff at Mercer proved to be invaluable to his development.
“I don’t think they will ever understand how life-changing it became for Jay,” Kim says.
“The department head of criminology and my professors pushed me in ways I never knew I could succeed. They all made me feel that I mattered and that my success mattered and was impressive,” Jay says.
They even helped him in areas where he was less proficient. “Math is an area of weakness for me but the two professors I had never gave up on me and most of all pushed me to the next level,” he says.
Though Jay had plenty of help at MCCC, he and his mother were expected to take on the burden of getting him to and from campus and paying tuition.
In the same vein, according to Kim, “the one downfall, if I had to give one, was that–it’s unfortunate and I think it’s a staffing issue– when you are a Jump Start student, you don’t have a college advisor.”
Jay could not register for classes himself—he had to email a representative in the admissions department to do so on his behalf. Even though he had started late, and despite any setbacks, Jay was on track to get his associate degree.
Kim adopted Jay in 2009 from the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency—then known as the division of family and youth services–when he was five years old. He had been in foster care since he was five weeks old.
Jay will be continuing his studies in this field at Rowan University, majoring in law & justice and minoring in psychology. He plans to graduate in May of 2025.
“I chose criminal justice because I wish to combine my background and childhood history within the foster care system,” Jay says. “I wanted to combine psychology and criminology within my career.”
He says his current career goal is to work as an investigator for child protective services in New Jersey. “Every child deserves a chance for success regardless of their background and age, and I want to be a part of it. It takes only one person to change your life, and that happened to me when I was adopted by my mom Kim.”
“As far as long-term career,” Kim says, “I could see him pursuing law school and becoming a law guardian and working that way within the system.”
Regardless of what he eventually decides, Kim is proud of what Jay has already accomplished. “He has defeated every odd, every barrier against him,” she says, recalling watching him walk at Mercer’s graduation.
Regarding whether she would recommend Jump Start to other families, Kim says she thinks “the jump start program can be perfect for anybody.”
“There are a lot of programs out there,” Kim says, “I think families just need to educate themselves on what is offered.”
“They need to become their advocates,” Jay agrees. “Decide what is right for them and not depend on anyone else to pave their path.”
He says he recommends the Jump Start program for everyone who might be interested. “I have met wonderful people, exceptional professors and encouraging staff at Mercer. I received so much more than a degree. Mercer Community College staff and professors have given me the desire to continue to excel but more than that, they showed me what it is like to be acknowledged and why putting forth 100% always will lead one to success.
“I will be forever grateful to every professor I had at Mercer Community College for not just the textbook knowledge they educated me on, but also the unconditional support, praise and recognition they gave to me. They have paved the path for my future.”
For more information about the jump start program at Mercer County Community College, go to mccc.edu/admissions_jumpstart.shtml. For any questions or inquiries about options for dual enrollment at Mercer County Community College, email the admissions office: admiss@mccc.edu.
Robbinsville resident Jay DeMatteo shows off his associate degree in criminal justice after graduating from Mercer County Community College on May 18, 2023. Also pictured are Robert Schreyer, vice president of academic affairs, and college President Dr. Deborah E. Preston.,
