Innovative Syracuse high school — referred to as ‘employability incubator’— will welcome students for the first time this fall
By Mary Beth Roach
It’s the past meeting the present to prepare for the future.
The Syracuse STEAM School, housed in the historic Central Tech High School building in downtown Syracuse, will welcome its inaugural class of students this fall, offering them a distinctive learning experience to make them ready for the workforce.
The school, formally named the Syracuse Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics High School, has been a collaborative effort from the very beginning, starting in 2016, with a conversation between then-Syracuse City School Superintendent Jaime Alicea and then-OCM BOCES district superintendent Jody Manning and Steve Swift, former board of education member and current community member about a possible collaboration. Manning now serves as executive director/planning STEAM principal and Dan Straub is the school’s principal. Although Alicea has since retired, the current superintendent, Anthony Q. Davis Sr., has supported the idea right from the start of his tenure.
“On behalf of the Syracuse City School District, I couldn’t be more excited about the opening of the new STEAM Regional High School. This innovative learning facility will provide students with cutting-edge opportunities to explore, create and excel in fields that shape the future. SCSD is thrilled to partner with the city of Syracuse, Onondaga County and Onondaga Cortland Madison BOCES,” Davis said.
The Syracuse City School District reached out to CenterState CEO to do a needs assessment. As Manning explained, they asked them to “‘peek around the corner. Where are there going to be jobs in Central New York?’”
The survey yielded 225 responses, determining what businesses would be coming in in the next three to five years and Manning said, the goal was to develop programs that would prepare students to become the future workforce.
About 100 volunteer experts in a wide variety of subjects contributed to help build the unique curriculum, which includes animation and gaming; business entrepreneurship; construction management; data analytics; entertainment engineering; robotics and automation; semiconductor manufacturing technology and visual and performing arts.
In addition, students will have the opportunity to graduate with more than 22 Carnegie units, which is the standard graduation requirement in New York state.
Companies did more than offer their expertise to develop coursework.
“We just said we wanted time and expertise,” Manning said.
But they got a lot more.
For example, Amazon has donated a robotic lab and Walkair, an area HVAC products distributor, has provided an emulated clean room. The school secured a Micron grant for semiconducting equipment and For A Brighter Future Foundation donated production equipment.
These companies, among other collaborators, consider these donations as investments.
Calling the school an employability incubator, “the goal is to give them future workers,” Manning said.
But before the curriculum was developed; construction began or classrooms were outfitted, there was a lot of work to be done with the New York State Education Department.
The administration wanted to open up the school to students from the city school district and the 23 districts in the OCM BOCES footprint.
“We wanted opportunities and access for all kids, regardless of zip codes,” Manning said.
However, allowing students to cross zip codes and attend school in Syracuse required approval of the NYS legislature. That took between 12 to 18 months to accomplish, Manning said. Another 12 to 18 months were spent bringing the various school districts together to buy into the concept of the school. State funding needed to be secured and as Manning pointed out, they had to go through the approval process with New York state for career and technical education.
Of the 250 students that make up this first class, 60% will come from the Syracuse City School District and the remaining 40% from the 23 suburban districts that are in the jurisdiction of OCM BOCES.
That the student number from the city schools is higher because the district is governing body of the school, Manning explained. The tuition costs for those coming from other districts are offset by districts.
Students were invited to apply to the school and then each one was interviewed. During the interview process, the administration was able to better explain to the students how different their program would be from a typical high school. After that process, the students were selected from a lottery.
That first class will comprise of ninth-grade students only, as administrators want to gradually build the program, working out “any bumps” along the way, Manning said.
The school received more than 300 applications, which exceeded administrators’ expectations. For the prospective students and their parents, “it’s a bit of a leap of faith,” Manning said, since the school is still in the construction phase and they couldn’t get in to see the facilities.
The courses have been designed to provide students with three, what Manning called, exit ramps. Upon graduation, the students can either go directly into the workforce; they can opt to apply their credits toward higher education; or they can take part in the earn-and-learn program with one of the school’s collaborators. They can work for the company and earn a paycheck, which that company will pay for students’ pursuit of additional credentials.
Students get hands-on, authentic experience and as well as the traditional courses needed to graduate. Students earning the current technical educational endorsement will receive an advanced Regents diploma, 30 college credits to Onondaga Community College and stackable credentials, which are nationally-recognized industry credentials.
The success of the school will be evaluated in a variety of ways. Since it is a NYS public high school, Manning said, it will be measured using the same data as other schools. In addition, another parameter will be determined by how many stackable credentials the students earn and the administration will also get feedback on the students from the businesses and institutions where they’re interning.
Project to cost $71 million
The $71 million construction project to transform the former Central Tech, originally built in 1903, to this new facility, began in December 2023 and involved working diligently with the State Historic Preservation Board in the renovation. Special attention during the rehab has been paid to the Lincoln Auditorium, long regarded as one of the most impressive features of the building. It will have new seats and sound equipment, authentic painting and a refurbished stage. The artistic ceiling work and chandelier will remain.
One might consider that with technology changing at lightning speed, it could be problematic for the STEAM school to continue to keep up the pace. However, Manning said that collaborators have assured him that they are prepared to provide upgrades to the resources as needed.
“If we deliver what we said, the collaborators will help keep the software and hardware current,” Manning said.
The STEAM School is moving students into the future against a backdrop that appreciates the historical architecture of the 20th century.
