Students in Long Reach High?s pre-engineering academy will soon be eligible to receive college credits now that it has received national certification.
The academy, based on a program by a national nonprofit called Project Lead the Way, will focus on a broad range of engineering and technology courses, some of which will earn students credit at more than 25 colleges and universities.
“The program is not only for those who want to be engineers but also technicians who have to use many of the same skills,” said Robert Hawthorne, who teaches a course on introduction to engineering design.
The academy also will include classes on engineering principles, digital electronics, computer-integrated manufacturing and engineering design and development, Hawthorne said.
The introductory engineering course is now offered, and three morecourses will be added next year.
Project Lead the Way promotes pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students and offers its programs at more than 1,300 schools in 45 states and Washington.
Long Reach joins Howard, Wilde Lake and Centennial high schools in the county as certified schools, said Crickett Thomas-O?Dell, Project Lead the Way?s director of school relations and marketing.
The new academy will require students to pass standardized tests at the end of the courses, Hawthorne said.
The curriculum content will be similar to advanced placement courses, Principal Ed Evens said.
Next year, Hawthorne hopes more people will sign up for the academy and stressed that students need to sign up while still in middle school.
