by Linda Brenckle
“Value Added” is the way the staff at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School (Assabet) thinks about the education they offer there. “[Students] get the same diploma they would get in their home school…we do offer college prep, honors, and AP courses; we have virtual high school; we have a pre-engineering academic elective; but beyond that diploma, ” says Cindy Zomar, Public Relations Coordinator for the school, “we add to it a certificate of proficiency in a particular trade area.”
Seven towns, including Northborough, are in-district towns for the school, but students from an additional nine towns were among the approximately 970 students who attended Assabet this year for instruction in one of 19 technical areas. Forty-eight of those students were from Northborough. Like enrolling at Algonquin Regional High School, the admissions process is blind to economic status and disabilities. Enrollment at Assabet, however, also requires a review of the applicant’s grades, attendance, behavior, and equally importantly, an assessment of a student’s desire for a vocational technical education. The school has been around since 1973 but has changed considerably throughout the years.
The educational approach at Assabet has evolved even during the 13 years Zomar has worked there. “For the most part the kids who came here [before] were kids you would assume were not going to college,” she says, “…[however], as the economy changed, as the area changed in what it offered for employment, as things became more computerized and more high tech out there, we had to change with it.” In Zomar’s thinking, the state requirement for Assabet students to take the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams (MCAS) has also provided an impetus to assure a sound academic education. In 2004, the first year for which there is substantive data, 75% of Assabet students passed the English portion of the test and 87 % passed math; 34% and 33% of these students were at the advanced or proficient level in English and math, respectively. Fast forward to see the strides the school has made in increasing its academic rigor. The class of 2011 already has a 99% passing rate in English, 99% in math, and 97% in biology. Further, 75%, 76%, and 70% of students scored proficient or advanced in English, math, and science, respectively. Similar improvements are also seen in students with disabilities: while student numbers have remained fairly constant, the percentage of students attaining the advanced and proficient levels in English has increased from 0% in 2004 to 48% in 2009, and in math from 11% in 2004 to 50% in 2009. With these improvements, more students are including college in their post-graduation plans. Roughly a quarter of the 2009 graduating class enrolled in a 4-year college after finishing at Assabet.
Because one of Assabet’s vocational/technical goals is to assure that graduating students are immediately employable, much effort is placed in keeping things current, on two levels. “We are very proactive about watching industry trends, equipment and software and curriculum changes, market changes so that if something is not going to provide awesome opportunities for our kids, it’s gone,” says Zomar. In fact, each vocational/technical program has an advisory board comprised of industry professionals not only to keep it state-of-the art, but also to provide input on market changes and demand for various jobs. Assabet is phasing out its electronics program because of limited availability of electronics jobs, but last fall, began a biotechnology program which would prepare graduates for an entry level biotechnician job at one of several area companies. Many of the more traditional programs such as cosmetology, carpentry, HVAC, plumbing, and culinary arts remain, nevertheless, the school has expanded its offerings with programs that were unheard of prior to 20 years ago, such as design and visual communications and computer programming and web development.
“Value added” seems to be a good way to think about Assabet, not only because of the marriage of an academic education with trade proficiency, but also because of the strides the school has made is raising the academic status of its students, and because of the currency of its programs. As Assabet likes to say, “Assabet Valley. Not your grandfather’s ‘voke’ school anymore.”
For more information on Assabet: www.assabettech.com
Here is the full URL for information on Assabet: http://www.assabettech.com/ My apologies for the error