Swampscott High School. The school district has been approved for a business and finance program. (Owen O’Rourke)
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SWAMPSCOTT — The school district has been approved for a business and finance program through the state’s Innovation Career Pathways initiative, according to an announcement from Superintendent Pamela Angelakis at a School Committee meeting Thursday evening.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Innovation Career Pathways provides students with coursework and experience in specific fields including information technology, engineering, healthcare, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing.
“Innovation Career Pathways are designed to create strong partnerships with employers in order to expose students to career options and help them develop knowledge and skills related to their chosen field of study before they graduate high school,” according to the Innovation Career Pathways website.
Angelakis said the district is partnering with the Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School for the program.
“I’m proud that we’re offering opportunities for our students to have a truly holistic education,” she said. “We are bringing back those hands-on experiences that the district had to cut many, many years ago.”
Currently, the high school participates in Essex Tech’s “After Dark” program, which juniors and seniors are eligible for.
Angelakis explained that participating students “come and do their core classes here at the high school and then at 11 o’clock in the morning they go and participate in hands-on technical learning at Essex Tech.”
10 students will be part of the program for the 2023-24 school year. Specifically, they will be studying construction craft labor, health assisting, and sustainable horticulture.
Through Innovation Career Pathways, the program could grow even more in the future.
“Our hope is next year to expand that with one more program and that would be in technology,” Angelakis said.