District 300 launching more career track programs next year

Community Unit District 300 is launching programs designed to provide high school students with real-world knowledge, experience, and the skills necessary to thrive in college and competitive careers.

The shift is part of the evolution of education, moving away from a static classroom and giving students an opportunity to explore careers, Superintendent Fred Heid said.

"We will continue to offer the traditional career pathways," Heid said. "We also have to look to the future. Students' interests are changing."

Each Pathway Program includes recommended courses in 11 career fields and many also come with opportunities to earn internships with local businesses and dual-credit course offerings through Elgin Community College. Students could attend ECC during the school day and receive high school and college credit, officials said.

"It increases overall student engagement, but it's also going to assist us to align and provide early college credit for some of our students ... saving them time and money," Heid said. "They may start out up to two years ahead of their peers in whatever career pathway (they choose). Overall, we are looking to create mini academies."

The Algonquin-based district always has offered vocational career training through carpentry, electrical, automotive, welding, and wood shop courses.

This year, the district implemented three Pathway Programs in advanced manufacturing at Hampshire High School, entrepreneurship at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, and information technology at Jacobs High School in Algonquin.

"We really looked to expand beyond those into emerging job opportunities," Heid said. "Some of those (traditional vocational) programs will just be consolidated as we look at new Pathway programs."

Next school year, students can choose from the following career tracks:

• Dundee-Crown High School - Early childhood development, electrical technology, elementary and secondary education, entrepreneurship, and STEM/engineering.

• Hampshire High School - Advanced manufacturing, early childhood development, elementary and secondary education, and welding.

• Jacobs High School - Digital and print production, graphic design, information technology and computer science, and web design and development.

Eighth grade students and high school freshmen can begin registering now for next school year by talking to their counselors. Enrollment is limited to between 90 and 120 seats per program. Students can switch between programs during their freshman and sophomore years. They also can apply for an intradistrict transfer to enroll in a program not offered at their home school.

"We are right now meeting with schools about their budgets for next year," Heid said. "If we have too much demand and limited seats, we're going to have to look into a lottery type system. What we hope to do is create programs of high interest and high value to students that they can apply to and successfully transfer and matriculate. Each year, as the programs grow and mature, and interest grows, we will be able to better plan and address additional enrollment."

For now, the district's teachers who are qualified to teach these Pathway courses will do so next year. Moving forward the district may use college-level instructors, Heid said.

Officials anticipate rolling out the programs will be cost neutral and covered through general state aid payments.

"Programs will either flourish or they won't, and we won't hesitate to eliminate a program, if they are not flourishing," Heid said.

Officials also are developing Pathway programs in pre-nursing, emergency medical technician/fire science, and coding for launch in the 2017-18 school year.

"If we do a pre-nursing program in the next two years, we want to make sure that we have a partnership with Centegra and Sherman (hospitals) to make sure our students have the ability to have real-life internship opportunities," Heid said.

For more information and Pathway Program videos, visit d300.org/pathways.