Health Science Academy

Academies Profile

What Is a Career Academy?

A group of students that stay together with the same team of teachers for 2, 3 or 4 years in a supportive, high achieving environment.

A curriculum that organizes instruction in academic subjects around an industrial or occupational theme.

A plan that enables students to fulfill requirements for college entrance in addition to acquiring work related knowledge and skills.

A collaborative effort to promote unique partnerships among educational institutions, local industry, and community with business, industry, and community involvement programs.

What are the Four Key Components of An Academy?

The coupling of a group of students with one set of teachers (typically about 50 students at each grade level).

A curriculum centered around a career theme (such as health, computers, finance).

Strong ties with business and industry who provide adult mentors, speakers, internships and other school-based and work-based learning opportunities.

Articulation and collaborative agreements with post secondary education institutions.

What is the Teacher's Role?

To work together as part of a team to coordinate instructional themes in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, technology, and career/vocational studies.

To stay in touch with parents and community.

To involve employers from business and industry.

To commit to closer teacher-student relationships.

To relate their teaching to other subjects whenever possible by integrating their instruction that features relevant themes and real-world connections and developing inter- disciplinary projects.

To plan together during a common planning period to ensure curriculum continuity.

To promote effective teaching models and strategies using block scheduling of classes for in- depth experiential instruction.

What would students experience outside the classroom?

Freshman - Introduction to Technology and Career Exploration classes with ninth grade transition program.

Sophomores - Tours of medical facilities/Job shadowing with medical staff.

Juniors - Paired with mentors from health profession/internship during school year and over the summer.

Seniors - cooperative education and apprenticeships, paid internships during school year and over the summer, continual education from secondary through post secondary.

What would be other benefits for students?

Large schools become smaller learning communities and give students a sense of belonging.

Improve attendance, credits, grades and graduation rates.

Sixty six percent of existing Academy graduates proceed to some form of post-graduation training and almost all attend college, work or do both.

Preparing for both college and careers helps students discover how learning and working are intertwined.

Preparing for technical skills using state-of-the-art facilities.

Block scheduling and smaller classes.

The full range of career guidance and counseling support services.

Why A Health Technology Career Academy?

Henry Grady High School, an Atlanta Public school, was named after a well-known orator and writer, Henry W. Grady in 1947. Not until 1961 did Grady begin racial integration of the student body. Today, the school still has a diverse student population. For the past ten years Grady's ethnic composition has remained close to 70% Black, 29% White, and 1% Other. Many students come from affluent families, but many do not. Approximately 50% of our student body is eligible for free or reduced lunch. As a result of this, Grady is a school-wide Title I project. Yet, Grady's ninth and tenth grade standardized test scores are the highest among all Atlanta Public Schools. Through the ongoing changes at Grady due to school reform, the staff is committed to reducing the dropout and retention rates and increasing parental involvement. They are committed to doing so to ensure that future graduates of Henry Grady High School are prepared to attain their career goals and become productive, literate, and empowered citizens.

In an effort to address the needs of all students at Henry Grady High School, members of the faculty and staff devoted themselves last year to exploring the possibility of implementing what is known as the career academy. Career academies are answering the concerns of many school systems nation- wide; school systems, like ours, devoted to offering excellent and rigorous curriculum to all students, college bound or not. Focusing especially on students for whom college may not be an immediate option, the Academy offers the opportunity for students to participate in meaningful hands-on and experiential activities that will enable them to make informed educational and career choices. Furthermore, the Academy will increase the students' likelihood to be more successful in mathematics, science, and communication.