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From school to careerHamilton County Schools launches Polytechnic Academy to help prepare students for the workforce
For some Hamilton County students, it’s become normal to study “The Crucible” and learn how to write maintenance reports during the same English class.
It’s also routine to solve math equations in a classroom and, minutes later, walk across the clean tile floor of the Volkswagen Academy and build a robot.
That’s because the 26 high school juniors enrolled in Hamilton County’s Mechatronics Akademie, based at Chattanooga’s VW assembly plant, are mixing academic courses and industry training.
Students will graduate from the two-year program with a high school diploma and about 40 post-secondary credit hours, putting them on track to earn an associate’s degree within a year. Soon they could be earning more than $40,000 a year working for an advanced manufacturer like VW.
The program’s success and the supply of good-paying jobs requiring a certificate or technical degree is leading Hamilton County Schools to partner with Chattanooga State Community College to expand the program, allowing 100 junior-level students from across the county to attend the new Polytechnic Academy on the college’s campus.