East Career and Technical Academy to open in August
School to offer skill-specific education, seven major choices
By LAURA CARROLL
VIEW STAFF WRITER
Jacob Kepler/VIEWGlenda Goetting, East Career and Technical Academy principal, tours what will soon be her new office at the school?s construction site at 6705 Vegas Valley Drive.
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The East Career and Technical Academy is set to open in August, located at the base of Sunrise Mountain at 6705 Vegas Valley Drive.
The East Academy will offer Las Vegas high school students skill-specific learning in a state-of-art facility. The academy will be the second of its kind to open in the valley, the first of which was the Northwest Career and Technical Academy, 8200 W. Tropical Parkway, which opened last August.
The Clark County School District has plans to open three more of these academies throughout Las Vegas over the next two years, at 7050 W. Shelbourne Ave., Robin Street and Vegas Drive, and Charleston Boulevard and Desert Foothills Drive.
The East Academy will offer seven major choices to students, including early childhood and education, construction technologies, entertainment business and marketing, transportation, medical professions, culinary and information technology.
Students interested in education can choose to study grades kindergarten through 12 or at the preschool level. They will be given hands-on teaching practice through an on-site preschool and partnerships with other institutions.
Construction studies at the East Academy will take pupils through the process of learning CADD software tools, and the transportation major will give students a basic knowledge of vehicle diagnostics and repair.
"It offers high school students a choice to do something they're more interested in," said Lori Gatter, administrative school secretary. "It's exciting for them to come to a school they're excited about."
For instance, students accepted into the magnet school can choose to take part in the academy's certified nursing assistant or emergency medical technician programs, learn medical billing, study alternative forms of fuel and transportation or learn special event planning.
Principal Glenda Goetting hopes to set up partnerships with the local trade unions, because of their close proximity to the school, and said she hopes to push students toward management positions or post-secondary education after they graduate.
"It's not just vocational school anymore," Goetting said.
She wants to place a heavy focus on project-based learning, and she plans on having the kids stay with the same teachers throughout the course of their high school careers. All students will create digital portfolios complete with resumes and examples of work.
"It will be a model school," Goetting said. "Not only for career and technical academies, but for others."
Because of the eclectic choice of majors at the institution, Goetting said students have a chance to immerse themselves in four years of "real, comprehensive, deep study."
The principal is looking to hire instructors to cover all of the subjects at the academy, but said "that's a challenge" when asked about the hiring process, which will start this month.
"I want the best teachers to teach these programs," she said.
Goetting is looking to hire from both a national and local pool of candidates.
The school will open with ninth- and 10th-graders only, adding a grade level each year thereafter.
Applications to the magnet school are being accepted until Monday for the 2008-09 school year, and can be accessed online at http://magnet.ccsd.net.
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