Over 60 business, education, civic and government leaders from throughout the greater Sacramento region joined LEED for the first Capital Region Career Academy Bus Tour on Tuesday, May 3. Underwritten by the Sierra Health Foundation and the Sacramento Regional Foundation, the bus tour showcased three best practices of effective, rigorous career academies in high schools throughout the greater Sacramento area:
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The Green Energy Technology Academy (GETA) at Laguna Creek High School in Elk Grove Unified School District
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Criminal Justice and Environmental Science and Design academies at Grant High School in Twin Rivers Unified School District; and
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Health Professions High School in Sacramento City Unified School District.
Pictured above: A panel of local superintendents discuss how the region’s civic leaders can support and grow effective career academies in the Capital Region. (L-R) Steve Ladd, Elk Grove USD, Frank Porter, Twin Rivers USD, and Jonathon Raymond, Sacramento City USD.
Career academies are proven, effective
Rigorous, theme based high school career academies are the most proven education reform strategy in the US in the last 40 years, according to research compiled by the Career Academy Support Network at UC Berkeley. Career Academies increase attendance, improve graduation, enhance post secondary progress, deliver work readiness skills and, in some cases, increase life-long earnings.
Local districts report similar statistics. In Twin Rivers for example, students in career academies have a 99.65% attendance rate compared to 90% for their peers and have a 100% graduation rate compared to 84% for the entire district. Ninety-seven percent of students at Health Professions HS graduated in June 2010 and 85% of graduates enroll in post secondary institutions, second only to West Campus in SCUSD. Pictured above, right: A member of Laguna Creek High School’s Green Energy Technology Academy demonstrates a “solar suitcase” to (L-R) Debbie Bettencourt, Supt., Folsom Cordova Unified School District (FCUSD); Jane Daly, CEO, Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce; Zak Ford, FCUSD school board; and Eric Harper, economic development director, city of Rocklin.
As part of its 2010-12 Strategic Plan, the LEED Board of Directors pledged to support existing and grow new career academies throughout the six-county Sacramento region. Now expanded to include over 20 K-12 education leaders from all six counties, the LEED Board will consider recommendations from bus tour participants and others to consider additional strategies to support this critical work region-wide.
A complete summary report from the Career Academy Bus Tour will be posted in the coming weeks.
Pictured above: Following the bus tour, Sacramento County Sup. Phil Serna, discusses how the importance that effective career academies aligned with economic objectives are to regional and local overall economic development strategies.