Hello, my name is Angela Epps and I am the 21 st Century Academies coordinator for Olathe Public Schools. Thank you for tuning in to find out more about your child s high school options. Now is the time to be gathering information about your child s options so that decisions can be made prior to pre enrollment in February. 1
The 1 st option students have is to attend the high school near where your family resides. So if you live in the attendance boundaries of Olathe East HS, a student would go to that high school. If you live in the attendance boundaries of Olathe North HS, your student would go to that high school. All of our high schools offer a wonderful comprehensive educational programs, from Advanced Placement courses, to general courses, to courses and support systems to support struggling students. There are fabulous performing and visual arts programs and a rich athletic programs. 2
A 2 nd choice are the amazing 2 year Career Technical Programs. The district currently offers 5 technical programs: Auto Technology Auto Collision Construction Trades Culinary Arts Welding These are ½ day programs that a student goes from their home high school to the location of the program. The majority of these programs are located at the Olathe Advanced Technical Center (on the same campus as Olathe North). These programs are ONLY available when a student is a junior and senior, but there are certain courses you would want to take as a freshman and sophomore if your child is interested in these programs. If a student is thinking that a 2 Year Career Technical program might be of interest the student would talk with their counselor when they are enrolling in classes for high school. 3
The 3 rd option a student has for their high school education is to apply to a 21 st Century Academy. I d like to share with you about our 21 st Century Academies which are very exciting options for your student s high school education. 4
All 21 st Century Academies were developed based on student s interests and passion and centered around career pathways. Each academy develops an individual plan of study for each students for their 4 years of high school and 2 years post secondary. Students can earn one of three tiers of endorsement based on completing the academy requirements over the four years. During the student s senior year, they will complete a capstone project individualized to their area of interest and present that to the public at the end of the year. Academies have industry standard/university level equipment, use project based learning in and out of the classroom, provide cross grade level and co curricular opportunities, and amazing professional learning experiences over their four years. The academies can lead to post secondary and career opportunities. 5
We now have 15 21 st Century Academies district wide. We launched 6 new academies this school year. You will see that we have at least one academy in each of the career clusters providing for a wide range of student interests and opportunities for exploration. 6
So how do the academies work? As I have stated, academies are a 4 year plan of study. They are only available at one high school. If there is not an academy in your child s area of interest, it is likely that there are opportunities available at all five high schools. For example: all high schools have high quality music programs with band, orchestra and choir. So there isn t a need for an academy. We cannot replicate the all the academies at the 5 high schools for a variety of reasons. So, they have been made available to all students in the district regardless of where the student lives. 7
If a student has an interest or passion that aligns with an academy, they would apply and if accepted, join that academy at the high school where it is located. For some academies, it is located at the student s home high school. For other academies, the student will transfer to the high school where it is located. 8
If a student is accepted to an academy other than their home high school, transportation will be provided by the district to and from school all four years, as needed. 9
Regardless of the high school, all academy students can participate in extra curricular activities. 10
And a student s schedule should still allow for other course electives. Now that being said, there is always a limit. There are only so many hours in a day. If a student is in Band and Drama and an Academy and also wants to take a World Language each year, it doesn t all fit. We do have online courses through e learning. Students that feel they can handle an online course could free up an hour or two in their four years. Please visit the eacademy website for more information. Students and parents can discuss this with the academy facilitators when individual plans of study are developed as there are a set of enrollment guidelines for this. 11
These are the locations of the 15 academies. Olathe West houses Green Tech and Public Safety. Green Tech studies energy and sustainability and the interconnectedness of humans and the environment. Public Safety is focused on Law Enforcement and Fire Rescue including EMT and EMR. 12
There are 5 academies housed at Olathe North. Animal Health studies Wildlife conservation, veterinary medicine, and animal research. Medical Professions focuses on human healthcare, genetics and medical research. Geoscience studies all of the earth sciences including geology, oceans, space and the environment. Sports Medicine and Exercise Science focuses on discovering the science behind human movement and athletic performance. And Distinguished Scholars will have academically high achieving students immersed in rigorous, non traditional course work in one of five areas of content as well as participate in year long cross curricular themed studies. 13
Olathe Northwest houses Engineering and e Communication. Engineering students study mechanical, electrical, chemical, civil and computer science engineering and work on real world solutions. e Communications has four strands of study in the areas of: Animation, Graphic Design, Video, and Web 14
Olathe South houses 3 academies: Business Finance focuses on Accounting and Wealth management and the business essentials to get there. Computer Science focuses on Cyber security and computer programming. BIOengineering is at the intersection of the medical and engineering fields working on global health solutions. Nearly every tool and implantable device used in medicine is in the field of BIOengineering. 15
And there are three academies housed at Olathe East. Students in the Future Educators Academy will work directly with teachers at each of the three levels of education: elementary, middle and high school. They will cultivate a unique understanding of their role in the community as a future educator. The Design Academy explores the design fields including architecture, industrial design, interior design, landscape, engineering and more. Civic Leadership focuses on the areas of Legal Studies and Public Administration including law, city/county government, and non profit organizations. 16
You might ask yourself how a student selects which option is right for them for their high school education. Certainly some students already have a long time passion for an area For example: I ve wanted to be a teacher since I was 5; The Future Educators Academy might be the right choice for that student. Our counselors also work with students using an online tool called Career Cruising. It is designed to help students think about what career areas they might be interested in and if a 21 st Century Academy matches their interest. Parents can have their child log into the website using their user name and password, which they should be familiar with. If they have forgotten, you can contact their middle school career counselor for help. This could help students decide if a 21 st Century Academy is right for them. 17
8 th graders also had an opportunity to go to the Career EXPO on Oct 24 th at the college campus of Johnson County Community College. There students had a chance to take their long time passion and/or their ideas from Career Cruising and meet many business and community professionals. They ALSO had a chance to visit at LEAST 2 of the 21 st Century Academies. That evening there was an opportunity for parents to come visit with any of the 15 academies present all in one location. 18
At the Career Expo, students were able to pick up literatue on each of the academies to bring home and discuss with family. Aprogram card on every academy provides a brief overview of the academy one side describes the academy and the other outlines a general plan of study. These can also be found on the 21 st Century academies webpage. 19
Another piece of literature available at the Career Expo is a set of requirements to earn and endorsement that can be earned in each academy. This information is also on the web page. 20
If you are interested in 1 or more of the academies, you will also have the chance to go to an Open House at the high school. We will also have an Open House for the 2 Year Career Technical programs Every academy hosts an open house to give you more information. The date cards are/were available at the career expo. This information is also on the webpage. 21
If you go to the Olathe home page at Olathe schools dot com, you will see a red apple in the lower left corner. If you click on that it will take you to the 21 st Century Academies web page. 22
Which looks like this. If you scroll down on this main page you will find news, events, and twitter feeds. 23
The nice thing about the website is that you can follow all the academies twitter feeds even if you don t have a twitter account. You also can get a glimpse into the academies through the videos. Let s take a look at the overview of the 15 academies. (click the link underlined above) 24
Any current 8 th grade student within the boundaries for Olathe Public School may apply. 25
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This is what the online application will look like. Please read the instructions thoroughly. At the bottom there are two buttons. One for students enrolled in Olathe Public Schools and one for those who are not (private school or moving into Olathe Public Schools boundaries). 30
Parent support is required for application into an academy. Please read the support statement thoroughly. Teacher recommendations are NOT available to either parent or students and will be purged after the application season. Student grades and attendance will be used for evaluating applications. 31
This is the same as what students use on any district device. 32
If the applicant is not currently enrolled in Olathe Public Schools, they will need to fill in all the blanks. Please check for accuracy before submitting. Especially email addresses. 33
This is what the essay question page looks like. You can download the practice application to become familiar with it. It is best to type up essay answers in a Word document so the editing tools are available. 34
Please double check email address accuracy. If it is entered wrong, recommendation requests will not be received by the teacher. 35
You can find your teacher names on StudentVue/ParentVue under schedule. If you click on the teacher s name, the email address will open up for you to copy and paste. 36
All academies have endorsement requirements. They are set up in the same format, but do have some differences. These are all found on the website in each individual academy page with the links located at the bottom. 37
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One of the areas we will also be stressing in the 21 st Century Academies is EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS We will be teaching practicing and providing students feedback on these very important skills that are important to their success. 45
Here are the 8 skills that have been identified 46
When you think about 21 st Century Academies, there are 5 pillars we want to emphasize. Academies are: Focused on a students area of interest There is a strong instructional foundation provided We use industry standard equipment Students have many opportunities, both in and out of school AND, students develop a great sense of community Both in their academy And in their high school 47
One option you have is to attend the high school where you reside. So if you live in the attendance boundaries of Olathe East HS, you can go to that high school. If you live in the attendance boundaries of Olathe North HS, you can go to that high school. All of our high schools offer a wonderful comprehensive program. From Advanced Placement courses, to general courses, to remedial courses to support struggling students. They have performing arts, like band and orchestra and theater and a rich athletic program. 48
A 2 nd choice if the 2 year Career Technical Programs. These are technical programs such as: Auto Technology Auto Collision Construction Trades Culinary Arts Welding These are only available when you are a junior and senior, but there are certain courses you would want to take as a freshman and sophomore if you are interested in these programs. If you are thinking that the 2 Year Career Technical programs might be of interest to you, you would talk with your counselor. 49
The 3 rd option a student has for their high school education is to apply to a 21 st Century Academy. 50
Our goal in Olathe Public Schools is to OPEN THE DOORS to the future for our high school students! Thank you. 51