By Stefan Yablonski
Pathways in Technology Early College High School — or P-TECH —is a full-day program at CiTi BOCES and Onondaga Community College. Students come together from nine school districts to form a blended high school beginning in ninth grade.
There is actually a worldwide model, according to Amanda Petrie, the principal at CiTi.
“There are many in the United States. We are lucky enough to have one here in Oswego County,” she said. “We are an accelerated program with many dual college credits embedded in high school courses. At the same time students are earning their 22 high school credits for graduation, they are simultaneously earning credits toward a full associates degree. That makes us incredibly unique. There are a lot of high schools now that are offering early college credit. Ours is the only one that is offering the full associates degree.”
The other thing that makes the CiTi’s program unique is the very close relationship with industry, she added.
“The first thing the original administrators did was they went out and pitched this idea to local partners and manufacturing and said students are going to be earning a two-year degree in mechanical technologies or electrical technologies and what [the program] needs in return is firsthand work experience for things like visits to the company’s site, mentoring, job shadowing and being first in line for an internship.
“Our freshmen this year earned their first three college credits and by the time a student is a senior they usually average about 40 college credits. They have done job shadowing, internships, they have been mentored and gone to work sites and networked. We teach them professional skills. It does make our school a good model. It gets the kids access to really good paying jobs,” Petrie said. “We partner with SUNY Onondaga Community College and students will begin taking classes at OCC during their junior year.”
Degree offerings currently are in mechanical technology, electrical technology and electromechanical technology through Onondaga Community College.
Students remain part of their home district and as such are eligible to participate in events and extracurricular activities.
P-TECH continues to support the students after their high school graduation in finishing their associate degree from Onondaga Community College. (Most students need an additional semester or year after high school.)
The districts continue to support the students going up to OCC using school district transportation. They can take extra time if they didn’t do well.
“Our partners will come in and sit with myself and our teachers and advise us on curriculum, the machinery and technology that we should have at P-TECH. If we are lucky enough to be able to make those modifications, we will buy equipment that is what industry is actually using,” she said. “It’s pretty cool; our students are leaving with even beyond the associates degree. They have things like an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) certification, robotics credential and more.”
The school is at max capacity for space right now.
“We can take up to 64 students in each cohort, each grade level basically,” she said. “We had 21 students last school year graduate with their associates degree. We are picking up more and more students each year.
“We had one of the youngest operators in National Grid history hired at the age of 18. We had the youngest operator in Constellation history. Our average salary right now is right around the mid-$70s. So, when students get picked up by these companies because they already have their degree, they are making very good money. We have had students purchase a home in cash. It’s amazing.”
Partners
“It is very exciting. We are having meetings with new partners. This year alone we got four new partners. We’re going to dabble a bit more with Onondaga County companies. Of course, we would love more,” she said. “The idea from a curriculum standpoint we are a project-based learning school, we are always looking for partners. Novelis, Constellation, Huhtamaki, EJ — we have a lot of partners who have just been absolutely great — I call them premier partners. They have been just wonderful. They come to events; they mentor our students year after year. They’re very much invested in this school.”
All kids are able to access college credits, not just the honor students, she said.
“It’s case by case, we look at the whole child. We do a lot here that is beyond just the academic. We are looking for kids that are good humans,” she said of the application process. “I bring my dog to work and she gets bored. So, they have to do an engineering design project to keep her occupied as part of their application. We look at whether they pass their classes in middle school. We want to make sure that they are doing well in STEM.”
They are growing in enrollment. They have to maintain 710 students.
“Our enrollment is well above that,” she said. “We continue to expand and add new technology and keep proving opportunities for our students.”
