Students who would like to take free college credit classes while in high school and their parents are invited to attend an informational session this week at the Kirkwood Washington Regional Center. The open house is for students in eighth, ninth, tenth, or eleventh grades. Available academies include a variety of areas of study from construction and engineering to emergency medicine to general education courses that transfer to four-year universities. Regional Center Director Tera Pickens explains the cost savings for students and their families in the 2017-2018 school year, “Looking at our Washington County numbers, we had 689 students total in the county take college credit classes in high school at no cost, and that translated to just over $950,000 in tuition savings.” The open house is Wednesday (3/6) at 6 p.m. at the Kirkwood Washington Regional Center.