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Academies Give Kids Head Start on Future Students Focus on a Career Path and Get Specialized Teaching.

Posted on: Monday, 3 April 2006, 18:00 CDT

By BETH REESE CRAVEY

In a classroom filled with drafting tables and other tools of the engineering and design trade, students at Orange Park High School's Engineering and Design Technology Academy arrive and immediately delve into their projects.

Some of them work alone.

Some of them seek guidance from each other, debating strategies, designs and new ideas.

All of them are there because they want to be -- setting a course for their future careers and thriving in the intimate "school within a school" academy setting that the Clay County school district first implemented as an experiment seven years ago.

"I was really interested in engineering and design first off. Having the same people in class every day is kind of nice, not new people every day," said sophomore Alexia Dyszer, who is in her second year at the academy. "The classes are usually smaller so the teachers are not ignoring you."

The somewhat isolated nature of academies can be an adjustment, said junior Preston Gerard.

"You don't meet as many people, but there are other ways to do that," he said. "It's easier to talk to the teachers."

The primary advantage -- learning about a preferred career path, in a hands-on fashion -- outweighs the disadvantages, he said.

"I always enjoyed math and always thought about going into engineering," he said.

Marshall Gross, the academy's departmental chairman of trade and vocational programs, said Clay academies have proven themselves through the quality of the students they produce. They are readily accepted at colleges and in the workplace, he said.

"It gives them more freedom, for which we expect more discipline . . . They can't sneak through," he said. "These kids are serious . . . It gives them a chance to find out if they are good at this or if it's not for them."A SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT

Seven years ago, no one knew for sure whether the idea would fly.

But the Clay County school district jumped on the bandwagon of high school academies -- career-centered schools within schools -- with gusto. Five academies had been opened at various high schools by 2004 and three more will open in August.

Since then, more than 200 students have completed ninth- through 12th grade in one of the academies, graduated and gone on to college or employment. And hundreds more have attended academies, but not completed the full three-year complement.

District officials have proclaimed the experiment a success.

"In the beginning, it was untested territory. I thought they would be successful, but you never know," said Superintendent David Owens. "They were successful right out of the starting gate. It has been a great move for us."

Officials in neighboring school districts have visited Clay academies, viewing them as models for their own academy programs. And state officials have included a push for academies in a new high school reform initiative.

The benefits are clear, Owens said.

Many otherwise struggling students come to thrive in the "smaller learning environment" of an academy setting, he said.

"It makes these kids . . . like a family, they know everybody," he said.

And they get a taste of a potential career field, before having to make a full commitment.

"They see if they can handle it, if they can pull it off," Owens said. AN ENVIRONMENT OF CHOICE

Raleigh Sapp was the Clay district official charged with implementing the academy concept. He retires in May, satisfied with the result.

"One of my proudest accomplishments is getting this district really moving in the area of career academies," said Sapp, director of the district's career and technical education department.

Before academies, Clay had career-oriented "programs of study" for students, which were little more than "courses they could take for fun," he said. Then the Legislature began pushing for more concrete results.

"If they were going to spend all this money, they expected kids to walk out with a job skill," Sapp said. "So we began transitioning from programs of study to job preparation."

Grants from the federal Perkins Act, which was designed to boost academic, vocational and technical skills of secondary and post- secondary students, and three years of hard work got the job done. All Clay's high schools ended up with some sort of vocational program, from carpentry to horticulture to culinary courses.

That laid the foundation for the next career training program to surface in the educational world -- the academy. Through team teaching, small work groups, integrated curriculum and internships, academies focus students for their entire high school careers on particular career tracks, equipping them with the specific skills needed in that field or to continue that track at the college level.

Even Sapp is surprised how well the concept has been accepted.

"I never dreamed," he said. "I think what happened was principals seeing how successful they are. They ask, 'What academy can we have in our school?' I am thrilled. If I had three more years [before retirement], I could have 18."

Debbie Segreto, the Clay High assistant principal who supervises instructional issues at the school, said academies get students seriously pondering their futures. And it creates an excitement in students at an age when they can easily lose interest in school.

"They're excited about school because they're doing what they want," she said. "It's an opportunity to work toward something they want to do for the rest of their lives."CHALLENGES, CHANGES AND NEEDS

There have been changes along the way.

The first Clay academy -- television production at Ridgeview High -- has been relocated to Fleming Island High and will reopen in August as the Academy of Digital and Television Technology. The move took advantage of the high-tech equipment at the district's Teacher Training Center housed at that school.

Also, an academy started at Middleburg High was deemed to be a poor fit and shut down, but a replacement, the Academy of Construction Technology, is coming in August. The other new arrival for 2006-2007 is the Future Educators Academy at Clay High. Also, the Academy of Engineering and Design Technology at Orange Park High is being expanded to include a civil engineering component.

Sapp said he is particularly excited about the new teaching academy, which will offer dual enrollment at St. Johns River Community College.

"That is so wonderful," he said. "We are trying to grow our own teachers."

Sapp is soliciting support from the business community for scholarships that would bring some of those new teachers back to Clay County to teach.

"A good school system is good for business and good for property values," is his messsage. "Commit to yourself, not just Clay County schools."

Also, the educators who run each of the Clay academies have long lists of needed supplies, equipment and volunteer services that can be donated by the community. To help, or get more information about Clay's high school academies, go to www.clay.k12.fl.us/ Clay_Academies.htm.beth.cravey@jacksonville.com,(904) 278-9487, ext. 148 ACADEMIES IN CLAY

The addition of three academies in August will bring to eight the number currently offered at Clay County schools. They are:

Academy of Emergency Services, Clay High

Future Educators Academy, Clay High*

Financial Integrated Academy of Technology, Fleming Island High

Academy of Digital & Television Technology, Fleming Island High*

Academy of Construction Technology, Middleburg High*

Academy of Engineering & Design Technology, Orange Park High

Academy of Health and Human Services, Orange Park High

Academy of Culinary Arts, Ridgeview High*Beginning in August.

Source: Florida Times Union

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