SWAMPSCOTT — Students at Swampscott High School will be able to take vocational training at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School starting next year.
Superintendent Pamela Angelakis announced the partnership with the Danvers school in a Wednesday night School Committee meeting, saying that she was excited to offer the program.
“We’ve talked for years and years about this missing piece for a cohort of our students,” Angelakis said. “Now we’re at the place where we have something to offer, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
The program will be offered to rising juniors, who can participate during their junior and senior years. Enrolled students will take classes at Swampscott High School in the morning, take a bus to Essex Tech in the afternoon, and then take a bus back to Swampscott after daily dismissal.
The buses will be paid for by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which has also organized similar partnerships with other districts in the area.
Students will be able to enroll in training for auto collision repair and refinishing, automotive technology, construction, design and media communications, electrical and plumbing. Angelakis said it was recommended that eight to 11 students participate in the program, and they hope to enroll 11.
While the current high school class schedule makes it difficult to fit this program in, the district is reworking both the middle and high school schedules, and Angelakis said that the new schedule would allow students to take their other classes in the morning before leaving for Danvers.
In February, the district announced that incoming freshmen at the high school would be able to enroll in an advanced manufacturing innovation pathway, which offers electives and advanced coursework along with a 100-hour internship for students interested in careers in that field.
