State Board Of Education Impressed With District’s Special Programs and Career Academies

Members of the New Jersey State Board of Education and Acting Education Commissioner Lucille Davy visited Morris County Vocational School District on March 15, witnessing firsthand the advantages of career academies and specialized programs offered at county vocational-technical schools.

State Board of Education vice president Debra Casha (right) looks on as veterinary students care for animals.

Prior to meeting as the State Board for Vocational Education, the State Board members toured the school’s highly-touted Visual & Performing Arts (VPA) and Health Care Sciences academies. In the VPA program, board members were treated to a display of “interdisciplinary educational practices” in which students from the carpentry program demonstrated prop and stage construction while cosmetology students worked on theatrical makeup and hair styling of performers. “It’s a way in which several programs come together to make learning more meaningful for everyone,” superintendent James Rogers said.

Also included on the tour were two occupational programs geared specifically for special needs students. In a Building Construction Trades class, State Board members saw students learning the basics of house wiring and window installation. A Building & Grounds Maintenance class showed students practicing sheet rocking, spackling and hanging wallpaper. Both programs prepare students with marketable skills for gainful employment upon graduation.

During its formal meeting, the State Board of Education heard testimony from superintendent James Rogers, County College of Morris president Dr. Edward Yaw, and Dr. Joel Bloom, vice-president for academic programs of the New Jersey Institute of Technology about the district’s highly successful “College Connections” program. This partnership between the school district and the colleges allows qualified students to earn up to 22 college credits by spending their senior year on the campus of the County College of Morris and/or taking courses offered through NJIT or the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Under the program, students graduate with a high school diploma and complete the equivalent of a year’s worth of college credits. Tuition and textbooks are paid by the school. “The program allows students to get a significant head start on college and, at the same time, saves parents a year’s worth of college tuition,” Rogers said. “And the best feature,” he added, “is almost all of the credits students earn are accepted as transferred credits at most colleges and universities.” Last year, graduates of the programs each averaged 24 college credits upon graduation.

The Morris County Vocational School District operates the School of Cosmetology and the School of Culinary Arts on its Denville campus as well as six magnet high schools: The Academies for Automotive Technology, Construction Arts, Finance & International Business, Health Care Sciences, Information Technology & Communications and Visual & Performing Arts. In addition, satellite programs operated by the district for students throughout the county are the Academy for Law & Public Safety located at Butler High School and the Academy for Mathematics, Science & Engineering at Morris Hills High School.

The meeting at Morris County Vocational School District marks the fifth year in a row that the State Board of Education has convened one of its meetings at a county vocational school.