Dublin High Engineering Academy Awarded California Partnership Academies Grant

Dublin High School’s Engineering Academy landed additional funding recently after securing a California Partnership Academies (CPA) grant of $15,000 (with an additional $42,000 in funding available based on enrollment). The CPA program is administered by the California Department of Education to promote smaller learning communities with a career theme. Academies must include rigorous academics and technical education, with a career focus, supported by a committed team of teachers, and active business and post-secondary partnerships. The Dublin High Engineering Academy CPA grant application included endorsements from Tri-Valley and Silicon Valley businesses.

Dublin High’s Engineering Academy opened last Fall with Project Lead the Way’s Principles of Engineering course (read more…) and is set to expand for the 2011-12 school year with Introduction to Engineering Design (read more…). Dublin High is also planning to add Digital Electronics to the mix of offerings. An Engineering and Design Academy Advisory Council made up of teachers, administration, parents and business representatives was formed earlier this year to guide the program.

The Dublin High Engineering Academy was launched with over $80,000 in seed funding from sponsors including Chabot College, Chevron, Contra Costa Economic Partnership, Dublin Partners in Education, Las Positas College, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Schoenthal Family Foundation, Simpson Strong-Tie, and the Tri-Valley Education Collaborative.

The Dublin Unified School District is currently rolling out Project Lead the Way’s Gateway to Technology program starting at the middle school level with Fallon Middle School for 2011-12 and Wells Middle School for 2012-13. The middle school program is designed to feed into Dublin High’s Engineering Academy.