Lexington County’s largest school district and the area’s community college are teaming up to provide more options to prospective students.

Midlands Technical College announced that it will begin offering classes for the spring 2024 semester to both adult and high school learners at its new Lexington North Lake Center, to be housed within Lexington County School District 1’s North Lake Community Learning Center at 702 N Lake Dr., formerly the campus of Lexington Middle School.

Per a release and the Midlands Tech website, four academic courses at the new site are open for enrollment, including English composition, general psychology, introduction to theatre, and contemporary moral issues. The corporate training classes that will be available via the new location will include the college’s recently launched heavy equipment operator program.

That new offering, made possible by a $700,000 grant from Truist and the Truist Foundation earlier this year, uses two recently acquired simulators to aid in the training of students learning how to operate bulldozers, motor graders, excavators, and backhoe loaders.

The Midlands Tech website also lists multiple IT and certified nurse assistant courses, instruction in Excel and Outlook among the corporate and continuing education classes available for enrollment at the North Lake Center.

In addition to online enrollment, people will be able to sign up for classes on site at the new location, where they can complete any placement testing if necessary.

“MTC’s mission is to improve the communities we serve by offering high quality and affordable education and training opportunities to meet local workforce needs,” Barrie Kirk, Midlands Tech provost, is quoted. “Lexington School District 1 along with local business and industry have been valuable partners in this project to help MTC serve the rapidly growing community of Lexington.”

In a statement provided to the Chronicle, Lexington 1 emphasized that the new partnerhsip will "allow for high-quality, affordable education opportunities for Lexington and our surrounding communities," calling it "another example of the strong relationship between Lexington 1 and MTC."

"This partnership will provide our community with multiple pathways to higher education and careers, while also meeting the workforce needs of local businesses," the district said. "The housing of MTC at North Lake Community Learning Center allows for a centralized hub of learning for the community. Lexington 1 is excited to watch our community flourish through this collaboration. "

A comprehensive two-year college serving the counties of Lexington, Richland and Fairfield, Midlands Tech has six campuses and another center at Fort Jackson in addition to the new location. The college's three existing Lexington County campuses are located in Irmo, West Columbia and Batesburg-Leesville. Per the college’s website, the school had more than 12,500 students for the 2021-22 school year (the most recent one listed in the MTC Fact Book), with more than 6,500 that were full-time-equivalent.

Lexington 1 serves more than 27,000 students, as of the most recent headcount available from the state Department of Education, covering the Town of Lexington and outlying areas.

This is a developing story and will continue to be updated.