Wm. S. Hart School District

SCV Community Pride ★ WM. S. HART SCHOOL DISTRICT

THE SIGNAL . SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017 . W1

SCV

Community

PRIDE Wm. S. Hart School District

The Hart District is More than Just English, Math and Science

Katharine Lotze/The Signal

Valencia High School sports medicine students.

W2 . SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017 . THE SIGNAL

SCV Community Pride ★ WM. S. HART SCHOOL DISTRICT

SCV Community Pride ★ WM. S. HART SCHOOL DISTRICT

THE SIGNAL . SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017 . W3

W4 . SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017 . THE SIGNAL

SCV Community Pride ★ WM. S. HART SCHOOL DISTRICT

Wm. S. Hart School District

The Hart District is More than Just English, Math and Science

Katharine Lotze/The Signal

Matt Martinez prepares an e-stim machine while demonstrating on a classmate.

By Dave Caldwell

T

he 18 schools comprising the William S. Hart Union High School District are known for their student achievement in academics, extra-curricular activities and athletics. How students thrive preparing for life as adults is not so widely known.

Within the Hart School District are academies and pathways that allow students with specific career interests a chance to learn and grow within a smaller school setting. Career pathways fall under the Career and College Readiness (CCR) umbrella, which offers study in disciplines ranging from the health sciences and STEM, to hospitality and criminal justice.

“The Hart District focus is to support career exploration in junior high followed by concentration in career pathways in high school, many of which culminate with industry certification, internships, and even state licensure in some programs,” said Dr. Mariane Doyle, Director of Career Technical Education in the Hart School District. “We work with students to identify their career goals and then work backwards to identify the college or post-secondary educational preparation needed to achieve those goals through our career pathways and academies.”

At Valencia High School, students can participate in the Health Sciences Academy, where students interested in a career in medicine can learn and practice. Within this academy is the sports medicine program, giving students a chance to work alongside professional athletic trainers on campus as they tend to injuries and rehabilitation of student athletes. Many students have gone on to medical school after completing their post-secondary education Many of these programs actually begin at the junior high level. For example, students at Arroyo Seco Junior High School can begin their journey toward a STEM career (science, technology, engineering and math) that will continue through Sau-

gus High School. With teachers collaborating together, students can learn robotics, flight & space, and coding, and even take their ideas from the computer screen to finished product in Arroyo Seco’s Makerspace. That education continues at Saugus High School where even more sophisticated advanced manufacturing techniques are used in yet another Makerspace in cooperation with local industry and engineering professionals.

This cooperation between junior and senior highs

“The Hart District focus is to support career exploration in junior high followed by concentration in career pathways in high school, many of which culminate with industry certification, internships, and even state licensure in some programs.”

is not limited to just Arroyo Seco and Saugus as all six comprehensive high schools have similar relationships with their feeder junior highs. Take for example the same relationship shared between Sierra Vista Junior High and Canyon High School. While they too offer STEM to both boys and girls, the coding that begins at Sierra Vista can lead students to a new workspace classroom for computer science at Canyon. Designed to replicate the Google

Katharine Lotze/The Signal

Sarah Garcia demonstrates how to roll out a calf muscle on a classmate.

workspace, Canyon’s computer science students can work collaboratively in a classroom that features couches, raised team tables and multiple media monitors. Students begin their chosen pathway that will lead them to future careers, some of which haven’t even been created yet.

And speaking of collaboration, 12 science teachers from across the Hart School District have been selected to take part in a NASA mission called SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. The teachers will be onboard a Boeing 747 modified by NASA to become the world’s largest airborne observatory, with an effective telescope diameter of 2.5 meters (100 inches).

Flying at altitudes between 39,000 to 45,000 feet, above more than 99% of the water vapor in the atmosphere, SOFIA makes it possible to obtain astronomical data that are impossible to obtain from telescopes on the ground. The first six teachers will go on their 10-12 hour missions in the fall of 2017 with the second group of six going up in the fall of 2018.

“Our Hart District teachers are over-the-moon excited and proud to be going on SOFIA,” said Julie Huffman, Science Teacher on Special Assignment with the Hart District. “Working with NASA scientists to see far out into our universe and collect evidence is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we can’t wait to bring back to our students and community.”

When you factor all the career pathway opportunities on every Hart School District campus, with five-time award-winning Model Continuation School Bowman High School, the home school program called Hart @ Home that enables students to spend one-on-one instruction time with highly credentialed teachers, and Golden Oak Adult School providing everything from high school diplomas to career preparation programs for students 18-andover, the Hart School District offers an educational experience recognized as one of the best in the State of California.

Katharine Lotze/The Signal

Cole Pinter demonstrates how to wrap an ankle on a classmate.