English Summer Bridge Program | Orange Coast College

Join the English Summer Bridge Program

Jump start your college life with our Summer Bridge Program in English! This fun, two-week program is made to help you feel ready and confident before your first semester begins and before you take your first college level English course. If you're finishing high school and not sure what to expect in college, this program is for you. You’ll build important reading and writing skills, meet supportive English instructors, and learn how to succeed in your classes. Students who join bridge programs will be better prepared to tackle your first semester, gain key skills for success across all subjects, and pass more classes.

You'll take two short, non-credit classes—English 002 (College-Level Reading) and English 004 (Writing the College Essay)—to help you improve your reading and writing skills. These are some of the most important skills for doing well in ALL your college classes. AND, in addition to getting helpful skills, you'll get some perks while you learn:

Earn an OCC Certificate to include on your resume and transcript
Free lunch provided during each class session
Early registration access to select English 1000 courses (Weatherford's or Felts's English 1000 class in the Fall)
Opportunity to receive gas and grocery gift cards for demonstrating progress
Chance to win one of two $250 scholarships upon completion

Take the first step toward college success—join the Summer Bridge Program in English and build your confidence before the semester begins!

Register

Program Time:

July 27 - August 6, 2026

Monday - Thursday

9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Optional Friday session on August 7

Register Now

Contact Us

For more information email us or submit to our form.

Leigh Ann Weatherford - lweatherford@occ.cccd.edu

Karen Felts - kfelts@occ.cccd.edu

Submit Interest Form

Frequently Asked Questions

You may be wondering "How is this program different from orientation?"

Orientation is also VERY helpful, and you also want to attend that. But we have a very different goal: orientation wants to help you adapt to OCC and its differences from High School. We want to prepare you for one of the hardest classes any college student faces: English 1000. It is the "gatekeeping" class for many entering freshmen, the one class that can frustrate you and make you feel like you are not ready for college.

Both programs help you; both are necessary. You want to do both if you can.
Who are you?

You are a dedicated, smart student who might be a little insecure about reading and writing; you might have a lot of ideas but are just not sure how to organize them; you are definitely someone who wants to get reading tips before classes begin. You must be happy and willing to spend two weeks at OCC working with other students and two nutty professors on reading and writing skills (all while munching on snacks).
Why do you want to do the summer bridge?

You want to pass English 1000 the first time you enroll.

Look, you are smart; look up the stats on students' pass rates and summer bridge programs. State studies also show that students who take and pass English in their first semester at college will do better in all of their classes, not just English. Think of all the money and time you will save by passing every class the first time through!
How much does the program cost?
Who are we?

Well, we are Leigh Ann Weatherford and Karen Felts. English professors with over 30 years of teaching experience each. Both of us have taught every level of college writing and are not only experts in teaching English, but we actually like our students (shocking!).

We could say a lot more but we already know you are going to look us up–so maybe listen to what previous students have said about us. Some other things about both of us: we love dogs, read romance novels, and are always wishing we were traveling (not together, just, you know, in general)

You can reach us at our emails: Leigh Ann Weatherford lweatherford@occ.cccd.edu and Karen Felts at kfelts@occ.cccd.edu.
You are thinking about joining, but want to know just how much time and energy this is going to take?
We are running the Bridge program right around the time you are getting bored of summer–July 27th through August 7th.
- Week 1 is Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
- Week 2 is Mon-Friday 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. The last Friday, August 7th is reserved for reviewing your education plan with counselors, registering for English classes, and awarding scholarships.
Now, lest you think this will be a cushy 2 weeks where we eat lunch in the air conditioning, there will be homework and in-class assignments. How else will you learn and practice the skills that will help you during the fall semester? You should assume that each class meeting will have about 1 hour of homework (some days less, and some days more). One of the goals will be to work through writing a college-level essay which cannot be achieved without working on it outside of class.

While this class is technically not graded–or at least grades will not show up on transcripts–completing the assignments and showing up to class is how you prepare to succeed in English 1000. AAAAANNNNDDD, only those students who come every day and do the assignments are eligible for $250 scholarships offered on August 7th.