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District announces new medical academy
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
August 2013 will be a historic month for Plano ISD, as the district will open its first three academies for high school students.
While the Plano ISD Academy High School and International Baccalaureate Academy at Plano East had been previously announced, the addition of a medical academy was not announced until Tuesday's school board meeting.
"The Medical Careers Academy is our very first academy in Plano that will focus on a single pathway," said Mary Hewett, the district's executive director for instructional technology. "... Students at Plano East who go through the academy will be able to choose from a variety of certificated technical paths, as well as a pre-med path which leads to a college degree."
Hewett and her staff have been working on the planning for the medical academy for less than three weeks, said Superintendent Richard Matkin. However, Matkin added that interest from local colleges and hospitals has been high and the district plans to find partnerships to pay for the program.
Jim Hirsch, the district's associate superintendent for academic and technology services, said some of the most popular electives at the high school level are medically themed, such as the district's medical terminology class. These courses will not be made redundant by the new academy and will still be offered even after the academy's creation, Hirsch said.
"We want to create a sequence of courses for our students that in some way, shape or form provides more rigor," Hirsch said. "We will have some service learning components that we don't have in our current ninth and 10th grade courses. Our intention is not to eliminate our current courses, but to create new innovative courses for the Williams portion of the academy that will be required if you want to be in the 11th or 12th grade portion [at Plano East]."
Work on all three academies continues at a torrid pace as the district attempts to meet rapidly approaching deadlines. Current plans call for all three academies to begin taking applicants in late October or early November, with students notified of their selection in January 2013.
At the Plano ISD Academy High School, which will be located at 1701 Alma Drive and has been several years in the making, curriculum is beginning to be developed. Renee Godi has been named the principal, and 10 teachers have already been hired for the academy, which is paid for in large part by a $5 million grant from Texas Instruments. The academy will utilize project-based learning and have a heavy focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum.
The IB academy will be housed at Plano East and house ninth through 12th graders, although students would still be able to join the IB program after their sophomore year, Hirsch said.
Trustee David Stolle wasn't shy in his praise for the new academies, happily proclaiming that he would like to see similar single-focus academies specializing in business, law and engineering created.
"We are giving our students and their parents the opportunities to select what they want to do," he said. "This couldn't be more exciting."
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