Will a student still be able to take classes like language, band, NJROTC, etc?
YES! The academy structure and our trimester system leaves room for students to explore a wide variety of classes and continue in their interests.
If a student’s specific career path isn’t covered in an academy, how do academies help them?
Students learn college and career readiness skills as well as learning about how topics are interconnected. All students get access to speakers, job shadows, and field experiences that help them make connections with community members and allow them to demonstrate competence in a field of study.
How can staff be involved with or support the academies?
Some staff will be teaching academy classes or preferred electives. All staff can add real-world examples connected to their content and can look for ways to become involved with PBL projects. Learning about what colleagues are teaching is a great way to demonstrate for students how information and learning is interconnected. Staff can also share academy information with community members and refer them to the school if they want to become involved.
How can community members become involved?
The academies are enriched by the time and talent of the community. Community members can join an advisory board, be guest speakers, host a job shadow student, host a class field experience, or agree to help with a student capstone experience. Other ideas are welcome. Email Deena Alley, Director of Academies K-12, with your name, organization, phone number, and which category you are interested in:
- Becoming a guest speaker
- Participating in student presentation panels
- Hosting a Job Shadow
- Participating in a career exploration fair
- Hosting a class field trip
- Providing internship opportunities for students
- Joining our teaching staff full/part-time
- Donating materials and supplies
- Sponsoring student scholarship opportunities
- Making a monetary donation
- Other