Education

Cyber meets engineering

State responds to technology need with new magnet school

BY JEANA DURST

A state magnet school, the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (ASCTE) in Huntsville was created much in the same way as the Alabama School of Math and Science in Mobile, though their mission is entirely different.

As the third state magnet school (including ASFA), the ASCTE was formed by legislation in 2018 and serves students in grades nine through 12. This fall, it opened its doors to 71 students from across the state. We caught up with Matt Massey, president of this innovative school to learn more. “Our mission is for all students to implement cyber into the engineering lifecycle, so our students won’t have to choose between cyber studies or engineering, it will be the merger of those two things,” Massey explains. While there are other STEM magnet schools in the nation, Alabama is the first to blend cyber and engineering together. And it’s easy to see why the need is so great—the last decade has seen a booming emergence for cyber technology fields.

Their classes are designed specifically to cater to students already interested in those fields. “Even our language classes are geared toward that goal by incorporating technical writing,” Massey says. In English class, students are doing technical writing on their reverse engineering class, for example. And their first science course at the ASCTE is physics.

Massey played a large role in designing the curriculum, as well as developing all the policies and procedures. It was a natural fit for someone who came from a long line of educators, who taught mathematics, and most recently served as a superintendent for Madison County Schools, overseeing 28 public schools. As a dynamic leader, he will extend the mission of ASCTE to help other Alabama schools to develop lessons and pathways to certifications in order to duplicate their studies. “It will be a lighthouse, so to speak,” Massey says.

With a residential component, ASCTE can

serve students from outside Huntsville. This fall they have 30 students living on campus who only pay a small fee for meals. As a public school, there is no tuition, and the only requirement is that student families live in state. Massey reports that ASCTE has enrolled three students from Jefferson County, one from Montgomery, and one from Mobile; however, the concentration of the student body is from North Alabama, though they even had two students move from out of state to attend. The application process is rigorous but also holistic in approach. Students are evaluated by many different factors, not just academics. They have to interview, write an essay, and provide recommendations from previous teachers. Currently, ASCTE is accepting inquiries for next year’s enrollment and has already received 60 requests. They plan to accept only incoming 9th graders, and then add a new freshmen class every year.

Already, they have received a $4 million grant from Raytheon and established a foundation that has launched a capital campaign to pay for their future permanent campus. (Right now they are housed at Oakwood University in Huntsville.) Facilitating student internships with industries and demonstrating how their studies apply to career applications is a focus. So is supporting students to stay in the state as they continue their education and careers. In this sense, they are building more than a campus, they are building our future. To learn more visit ascte.org.