Building site under construction
The new Frederick Douglass High School will include a Freshman Academy, as well as an Academy of Technology, Academy of Professional Services and Academy of Health Sciences when it opens this fall.
Two Lexington high schools will open this school year with a newly introduced model that sets the course for a locally relevant, career-driven education for every student — and a new approach for overall college and career readiness in Fayette County.
The program, called the Academies of Lexington, has been created in partnership with Commerce Lexington, the Business and Education Network and Fayette County Public Schools. Based on a framework developed by Ford Next Generation Learning, the model is centered on the creation of smaller learning communities for all students organized around specific career-oriented themes, including information technology, health sciences, engineering and professional services.
With guidance and support from local business, Academy students will gain exposure to career-oriented lessons and work-based learning opportunities, targeted toward multiple potential career paths involving further education, technical training or direct entry into the workplace. Students within each Academy will be taught together by a dedicated teaching team over multiple years. While the core content will be the same for all students, each Academy will deliver it in a way that keeps those lessons relevant within the context of each program’s potential career objectives.
“With the help of our business community, we are transforming our high schools so that students don’t sit in math class wondering why they need to learn algebra or geometry,” said FCPS Superintendent Manny Caulk. “By connecting classroom instruction to real-world application and organizing our high schools into academies that lead to careers in fields such as medicine, technology, engineering, teaching, management, graphic design, finance or cinematography, we are opening doors to the futures our students envision for themselves.”
The academies to be brought online at Bryan Station High School this year will include the Academy of Engineering, Manufacturing and Robotics; the Academy of Leadership and Professional Services; the Academy of Information Technology; and the Academy of Medical Sciences, in addition to a Freshman Academy to support and help orient first-year students. The Academies at Frederick Douglass High School will include the Freshman Academy, along with the Academy of Technology, the Academy of Professional Services and the Academy of Health Sciences.
Tates Creek High School will also introduce its own Freshmen Academy for first-year students this year, with the intent to expand the model in the future. Other high schools in Lexington are also making plans to follow suit, as determined by their own site-based decision-making councils.
While specialized high school programs themselves are not new in Fayette County, the Academies program will be implemented “wall to wall” at both Bryan Station and Frederick Douglass high schools this year — meaning the opportunities will be provided not just for a select cohort of specialized achievers at the school but for every student in the building.
“One of the biggest things we want to see is educational equity for all students,” said Betsy Dexter, executive director of the Business and Education Network, which has been working with Ford NGL and local partners to bring the concept to Lexington for more than two years. “High school students are graduating in a world that’s changing faster than ever. We believe that all students deserve an educational experience that is innovative and engaging and built upon the world that is evolving around them.”
James McMillin said he has been interested in applying a career academy model for education since before he signed on as principal at Bryan Station High School two years ago, and his experience with it so far has been positive. Bryan Station was the first in Fayette County to come on board, launching its Freshman Academy last year. Under the program, the school’s freshman class experienced decreases of roughly 40 percent or more in disciplinary actions and failure rates over the school year, McMillin said.
Students transitioning from middle schools into traditional high schools can often get lost or overlooked in the process, McMillin said. The extra support and attention provided by a close-knit learning community with real-world applications and career-oriented direction keeps students engaged as they work to find their place within those larger high school environments, McMillin said.
Early exposure to real-world job possibilities can also help students determine the career paths they might like to pursue — or perhaps equally important, the ones that are not for them, McMillin said. That kind of knowledge will save parents and students both time and money, as compared to still sorting out those options after students have graduated from high school.
Lester Diaz, principal at Frederick Douglass High School, said the Academies of Lexington are designed to build lasting, mutually beneficial relationships among students, teachers, businesses and the entire Central Kentucky community.
The Academies will also work to develop students’ abilities in areas such as collaboration, teamwork and problem-solving — the so-called 21st century skills that are essential for employability in today’s swiftly evolving work environments, Diaz added.
“The jobs that Central Kentucky needs are the jobs that we are promoting through our Academies,” Diaz said. “The industry is telling us that these are the skills that they want.”
And Diaz wants to take those connections even further. He is looking for local businesses to embrace Frederick Douglass as their training ground, bringing teachers into their workplaces to experience their challenges, helping to shape the curriculum to better serve their workforce requirements and even scoping the school’s classrooms to get first pick of the local talent.
Alan Stein of the Stein Group, who, along with Caulk, has been co-chairing the steering committee for the Academies program on behalf of Commerce Lexington, said the program is already showing itself to be a potential game changer for workforce development in the local community. The hands-on involvement of local businesses, including not only larger corporations but also small and mid-sized companies, will be a determining factor in the program’s success, Stein said.
“It’s about engaging businesses and not just the business leaders,” Stein said. “We need businesses to provide mentors in every capacity, to be involved and really own these career academies, helping to develop the curriculum, recognizing what is necessary for their success, and being engaged literally every day.”
Caulk said the cooperative history between business and education in Lexington has made the community uniquely suited for this kind of partnership.
“The Fayette County Public Schools and Commerce Lexington have worked closely together for years, and this is exactly the kind of joint effort that we need to ensure that every student reaches his or her unlimited potential,” Caulk said. “The true benchmark is not a high school diploma, but where that diploma takes them in life.”