Academies

Elizabeth Learning Center has two California Partnership Academy programs on campus.  

The Health Academy, with an emphasis on Sports Medicine, and the Information Technology Academy, with an emphasis on either Multimedia or Entrepreneurship.
 

General Program Overview

The Academy Model

The Partnership Academy Model is a three-year program, grades ten through twelve, structured as a school-within-a-school. There are currently 340 funded programs throughout California. The model, originating with the Philadelphia Academies in the late 1960s, spread to California in the early 1980s. Academies incorporate many features of the high school reform movement that includes creating a close family-like atmosphere, integrating academic and career technical education, and establishing viable business partnerships. Emphasis is also placed on student achievement and positive postsecondary outcomes. Academies have been carefully evaluated and shown to have positive impacts on school performance. Key components of the Academy model are:

• CURRICULUM focused on a career theme and coordinated with related academic classes.
• VOLUNTARY student selection process that identifies interested ninth graders.
• TEAM OF TEACHERS who work together to plan and implement the program.
• MOTIVATIONAL ACTIVITIES with private sector involvement to encourage academic and occupational preparation, such as: integrated and project-based curriculum, mentor program, classroom speakers, field trips, and exploration of postsecondary and career options.
• WORKPLACE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES such as job shadowing, student internships, and work experience.

Curriculum and Career Focus

The career technical focus for an Academy is determined by an analysis of the local labor market, with an eye toward fields that are growing and healthy, that offer jobs with career "ladders", and that have companies willing to support the program. Career technical education is kept broad, focusing on industries rather than specific jobs in areas such as business technology, health, electronics, media, agribusiness, building trades, natural resources, finance, and retail trade. The integration of a standards-based academic and career-technical curriculum is a key ingredient.