Construction Tech Academy's Overview
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Employers in the
construction industry and its training programs are finding
it difficult to hire people with the basic skills and problem-solving
abilities they require.
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March
1999 the Carpenters Union Training Trust and the Associated
General Contractors approached the San
Diego Unified
School
District about developing
a school focused on building trades and related industries.
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Together they formed
an Advisory Committee of industry, labor, community college,
university and K-12 representatives.
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This Advisory Committed
was charged with considering the development of a school in
San Diego City Schools that would focus on engineering, architecture
and construction trades.
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The Advisory Committee
examined and considered options for school structures.
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The Advisory Committee
gathered and reviewed information from other focused schools
around the country.
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The
Advisory Committee recommended refocusing the magnet program
for Kearny High School from Global Technology to Engineering,
Architecture and Construction.
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They recommended
developing a new model for the magnet program by creating a
smaller academy, structured as a school-within-a-school, which
will focus on architecture, engineering and construction trades.
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The
San Diego Unified School Board approved this recommendation
on April 9, 2002 ,
and authorized the development of the Construction
Tech
Academy
at Kearny
High
School .
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Construction
began to revitalize one wing at Kearny
and turn it into Construction
Tech
Academy
.
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July 2002 a press
conference was held to announce a major donation from the Foster
Family Foundation in memory of Stanley E. Foster.
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The
Construction Tech Academy
opened in the fall of 2002, as a school-within-a-aschool, with
an initial class of 120 9th graders. An additional 9th grade
class will be added each year until the Academy reaches its
full enrollment of approximately 450 students in grades 9-12.
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On
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
, the San Diego City Schools
Board of Trustees approved, by a 5-0 vote, the renaming of the
Construction Tech
Academy
at Kearny
High
School to the Stanley E.
Foster Construction Tech Academy. Stanley Foster was instrumental
in the inception and development of this Academy and we are
proud to honor his memory in this way.
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September 2004 the
Stanley E. Foster Construction Tech Academy opened as an autonomous
small high school. The school received a large grant from the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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June
2006 the Associated General Contractors (AGC) donated over 5
million dollars to open the J. R. Filanc Construction Engineering
and Management Program at San
Diego State
University
.
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June 2006 CTA had
it’s first graduating class of seniors. The graduating class
was the only SDUSD public school to have a cumulative senior
pass rate of 100% on the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE).
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January 2007 CTA
held a California Senate Education Sub-committee hearing at
CTA. Testimony was used to create new educational policy.
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September
2007 CTA started Southern
California ’s only High School
Chapter for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.
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April 2007 the AGC
purchased a storefront in Junior Achievement’s Biztown. CTA
students planned and packaged, daily, a planter box kit that
fifth graders built in the Biztown. Each school day at least
100 fifth graders are exposed to construction careers in Biztown!
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June 2007 CTA graduated
it’s second senior class and, again, they passed the CAHSEE
100%.
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June 2007 the AGC
guaranteed any CTA graduating senior a full scholarship if they
choose a construction engineering major at the SDSU’s J. R.
Filanc Construction Engineering Program. Nine graduates took
the offer!
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June 2007 two CTA
students received full scholarships, from the Society of Hispanic
Professional Engineers to attend UCSD engineering programs.
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Summer 2007 the
AGC provided 12 paid internships to CTA students. The students
earned $12 per hour and they received sponsored Cloud Nine transportation
to and from work.
Construction
Tech Academy’s Overview Narrative
In
response to a request from business, industry, and community members,
San Diego City Schools established the Stanley E. Foster Construction
Tech Academy as a career-focused
academy for engineering, architecture, and construction trades at
the Kearny High Educational Complex. The Kearny High Educational
Complex is a large high school campus that has been redesigned to
house four autonomous small schools. Each small school has a different
career-technical theme.
A
Construction Tech Academy advisory committee, comprised of professional
labor
and
management organizations, development corporations, university officials,
school
district
leaders, teachers, and parents, worked collaboratively for three
years to design the academy as a small and diverse learning community
to accommodate 450–500 students. The
following mission statement was developed:
“
Construction Tech Academy is designed as a project-based learning
environment that will engage and support students in learning while
having a positive effect on the school, its students, and its surrounding
community. In this cross-curricular setting, students work together
to solve real-life problems that are present in both the local and
global arenas. Large project-based themes are created to integrate
all subject matter, as well as prepare students for further education
or a professional path upon graduation.”
Construction
Tech Academy ’s educational program is based on the key school reform
strategies identified by the U.S. Department of Education. These
strategies include high academic standards, small learning environments,
learning structured around students’ career interests, linkages
between out-of-school experiences and classroom learning, flexible
schedules, and strong linkages with post-secondary institutions.
The curriculum integrates career technical courses with academic
courses, providing students a rigorous curriculum through a relevant,
hands-on, and project-centered instructional approach.
In
September 2002, the Construction Tech Academy opened as a school-within-a
school with 122 ninth graders. An additional 100 freshmen were added
in September
2003.
In November 2003, the San Diego Unified School District was awarded
a Gates grant to transform three comprehensive high schools ( Kearny
, Crawford, and San Diego High) into 14 autonomous schools. In February
2004, Construction Tech Academy was approved as an autonomous small
school. Construction Tech Academy added a grade level each year
until the school was fully developed and implemented with approximately
400 total students in Grades 9–12 in the 2005–06 school year.
The
Construction Tech Academy advisory committee and board of directors
work
daily
with staff, students, and parents to bring “real-world” rigor and
relevance into the classrooms. These professionals have donated
over two million dollars in resources in the past four years to
provide a modern facility and enhance learning experiences that
prepare each student for post-secondary training and their chosen
careers. This unique educational collaborative provides:
•
The opportunity to earn college credit while taking high school
courses.
•
The opportunity for priority enrollment into the San Diego State
University
J.R.
Filanc Construction Engineering Program.
•
The opportunity for priority enrollment into most union and non-union
apprenticeship
programs.
•
The opportunity to take community college courses for no charge
during the
school
day.
•
The opportunity to have an internship during the school day.
•
The development and implementation of project-and problem-based
curriculum
that
is rigorous and relevant.
•
Mentors who work daily with staff and students on advanced engineering,
architectural,
and construction projects.
•
Hundreds of job shadows, guest speakers, and field trips each year.
•
Personalized instruction that strives to support and develop each
student as an
individual.
The
climate at the Construction Tech Academy is positive and personal,
facilitating learning through a variety of educational, industrial,
social and personal growth experiences. Developing relationships
between staff and students is inherent in the structure of
our school. Students will have the same teacher more than
once in their 4 year career. Their contact with teachers will
be in a traditional classroom situation, as well as on projects,
in advisory, and through mentoring. Currently, CTA students
have deeper relationships with their staff than a student
in a comprehensive high school would. Visit a CTA classroom
before school, at lunch, or after school and you will find
several students choosing to spend their free time with teachers.
Teachers at each grade level share common planning time each
day. Teachers are constantly examining student needs and adjusting
interdisciplinary assignments to help meet every student’s
needs.
Construction
Tech Academy has a 35 minute advisory period every Tuesday
and Thursday. This has proven to be an excellent medium through
which we communicate student achievement and to continuously
evaluate preparedness for post secondary training. During
advisory period teachers distribute bi-monthly “Payday” reports
to communicate detailed achievement information. Each grade
level advisory works as a small learning community as they
tackle real-life industrial problems that must be solved using
the students’ emerging engineering, architectural or construction
skills.
Construction
Tech Academy has a very large data base of tutors, industry
mentors and community service volunteers. These services are
coordinated by our own employer outreach specialist, counselor
and by a school Student Study Team. Tutoring is available,
before and after school, Tuesday through Thursday for every
student, every week.
School
Instruction and Leadership
The
Construction Tech Academy Principal, Glenn Hillegas , is a
teacher, principal and building contractor. Mr. Hillegas worked
as a carpenter to earn his way from middle school to graduate
school. He has a background in teaching students with severe
social and emotional disabilities and he developed a highly
successful ROP Construction program that allowed students
to mange and to build over one million dollars of school facilities.
Mr. Hillegas was honored as San Diego City School 's and San
Diego County's "Teacher of the Year in 1999. He has also
simultaneously owned and operated a general contracting business.
Before becoming the Construction Tech Academy Principal in
2002, Mr. Hillegas built many custom homes and he also constructed
and operated the custom sport fishing boat "Blue Horizon".
The principal’s industrial experience has helped to facilitate
the application of academics into a rigorous career-technical
application at the Construction Tech Academy .
The
top four instructional expectations for Construction Tech
Academy teachers are:
1.
Staff will adapt instruction to meet the individual educational
needs of all students.
•
Not all students will need special adaptation
of instruction.
•
IEPs will direct modifications to instruction.
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Early intervention for students who are struggling
began by the 3 rd week of school.
•
Individual student action plans are
developed accordingly.
2.
Common Classroom Expectations and Disciplinary
Practices: For example, all teachers are expected to implement
the attendance, tardy and discipline policy. It is expected
that each teacher will consistently follow-through on behavioral
consequences.
3.
Instruction minutes are priceless. A person who
wastes one minute a day, ultimately wastes one whole class
period per semester. Knowingthis, CTA strives for 100% effective
use of instructional time. Instructional time isn’t about
teaching as much as it is about learning. Therefore, we expect:
•
Teachers will limit instruction/directions
and promote student-centered activities..
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Teachers will employ various activities and
forms of assessment in order to engage students in the learning.
•
Students will be working on activities pertinent
to the standards being addressed.
4.
Collaboration and Willingness to Work as a Team
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CTA teachers are currently working in a team
structure with high buy-in.
•
Summer planning, common-prep, and whole-day
pull-outs will be used for teachers to make collaborative
decisions.
Additional
expectations for all Construction Tech Teachers are:
•
Teachers and staff work positively with students
in a collaborative team environment that supports student
learning and general student development.
•
Teachers practice strong and positive classroom
management, implementing structured lessons and activities
that reflect purposeful planning with clear standards-based
outcomes.
•
Teachers will have a daily organized agenda
posted with the purpose and desired outcome for the lesson.
•
Teachers will teach essential standards with
appropriate instructional strategies. Lessons will be standards-based
with formative and summative assessment measuring student
mastery of benchmark standards.
•
Teachers will promote a student-centered interactive
approach to learning to help keep students motivated and engaged.
•
Teachers will infuse industry standards into
their lessons and they will invite business professionals
to serve as a resource for classroom instruction.
•
Teachers will provide a print rich learning
environment that reflects current instruction. Student work
will be displayed to reflect current instruction.
•
Teachers will be expected to design and implement
a classroom cleaning system that teaches student responsibility.
•
Teachers will incorporate AVID and literacy
strategies as appropriate.
All
Construction Tech Academy students are placed in a University
of California A-G Curriculum . The course pattern for Grades
9-12 allows us to offer four years of coordinated course sequences
in college preparatory English, math, history, science and
Spanish.
The
Construction Tech Academy has been designed to prepare all
students for post-secondary training or to enter the workforce
with knowledge of all aspects of industry. The curriculum
imbeds core academic standards with carefully sequenced industry
standards for engineering, architecture and construction related
trades. The Construction Tech Academy strives to expose all
students to university, community college, and apprenticeship
training opportunities.
Construction
Tech Academy sequences integrated curriculum in the 9 th and
10th grades so that students can receive a solid learning
foundation for engineering, architecture and construction
careers. In the 9 th grade students learn the design process
and how to master “Inventor” 3-D design software in “Project
Lead the Way’s “Introduction to Engineering and Design”. Students
also are exposed to 15 construction trades by mastering “Careers
in Construction” Curriculum. In the 10 th grade all students
become proficient in “Auto CAD” and they also design and build
larger structures in the 10 th grade construction curriculum.
The
Construction Tech Academy has organized three distinct course
sequences in the 11 th and 12 th grades so that students may
choose to receive advanced integrated curriculum in engineering,
architecture or construction. The engineering courses are
“Project Lead the Way’s” Principles of Engineering, Engineering
Design and Development, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing
Systems. The advanced architectural courses include Advanced
CAD/Revit and “Project Lead the Way’s” Civil Architecture
in Engineering. The advanced general construction courses
include General Building Construction and Project Management.
Students work with the State Architect and inspector to build
new school facilities. All three curricular foci also offer
internship classes so that student may receive work experience
during the school day.
Construction
Tech Academy ’s rigorous and relevant project/problem based
curriculum allows teachers to individualize instruction so
that all sub-groups can be successful.
Parent
and Community Involvement
As
an integral part of the community, Construction Tech Academy
is working to improve parent and community involvement. Parents,
students industry professionals and community members participate
in a variety of programs, including, the Site Governance Team,
the English Learner Advisory Committee, open house, student
exhibition celebrations, mentoring clubs such as ACE and US
First, the Parent, Teacher Student Association, the CTA Advisory
Committee and the Kearny Alumni Association.
To
better facilitate communication and to better support student
achievement, the Construction Tech Academy staff sends home,
every two weeks, written detailed achievement information
for each student. This "Payday" provides detailed
information for assignments, assessments, attendance and behavior
for each class. Parents review the data, make comments and
return the information to the staff to help facilitate continuous
improvement.
The
Construction Tech Academy combines resources with the other
Kearny Complex Schools to provide additional security for
a zero period that starts at 7:30 each morning. Additional
security is also provided for a fifth period which runs from
3:30 until 5:30 each school day. To keep the campus secure
during instructional hours we require each visitor to sign-in
at the main office and we close all but two entrances to the
school so that we may monitor who is entering and leaving
campus.
School
Facility Conditions
The
Construction Tech Academy advisory committee and board of
directors designed and funded a 1.2 million dollar facility
upgrade in the summer of 2002 to provide upgraded engineering,
architectural and construction labs that could support the
latest in emerging technology. The academy stakeholders have
raised additional millions in cash and donated materials and
services to expand the school each year. Currently plans are
being developed to do a one million dollar upgrade of the
Kearny Complex 1000 building to provide two engineering labs,
two construction labs and an integrated science lab.
The
large collaborative of community and industry stakeholders
at the Construction Tech Academy work within the district’s
Self-Help Program and in cooperation with District’s Maintenance
and Operations Office to keep the academy in good operating
condition. The district’s recent cut-backs on facility and
grounds maintenance has been eased by the Construction Tech
Academy volunteer advisory committee.
The
Kearny High Educational Complex received facility
upgrades
thanks to Proposition MM, the $1.51 billion bond measure
passed by San Diego voters in 1998. It is funding modernization
of 161 existing schools and construction of 12 new and 3
rebuilt schools throughout San Diego . At our complex, major
Proposition MM projects include four new science labs and
8 upgraded labs. Prop MM also doubled the size of our library,
provided campus-wide new paint, fencing and paving. The
entire campus also received a fiber-optic and electrical
upgrade so that the complex will have capacity for future
data technology. For more information about Proposition
MM projects and work schedules at our school, go to www.sandi.net/propmm/.
Staff
Development
Professional
development for all staff members is continuous at the Construction
Tech Academy . The Academy has received a Gates Grant to provide
resources for staff development opportunities. We have built one
late-start Friday each month into our schedule to provide professional
development time. Staff Development activities include:
•
Monthly prep-period meetings focused on instructional
innovations.
•
Summer Project Based Institutes for most teachers.
•
Teacher Peer observation and lesson study.
•
Teacher externships with our business partners.
•
Seminars provided by our business partners.
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