The first class of students walked through the doors of the Reading High School Innovation Academy on Monday.

The academy, 817 N. Ninth St., is a $57 million career-focused learning center for students in grades 10 through 12. It is designed to blend traditional academics with hands-on, career-focused learning, offering four primary pathways in engineering, health and biomedical science, computer science, and human services, with coursework aligned to each field.

“We’re just under 500 students, which is exactly where we wanted to be for the first year of opening this building, which is really exciting,” Amanda Helm, associate principal, said Monday morning as staff greeted students. “We primarily have 10th and 11th grade students. I would say the breakdown is about 250 10th graders, about 150 to 175 11th graders, and about 75 to 100 seniors.”

Helm credited the administrative team with preparing the building and programming and said the staff was busy last week getting ready for the opening.

“So our first chance to actually all sit in a room together was on Thursday,” she said. “And it wasn’t that I hadn’t met everybody and we hadn’t all seen each other, but that first time sitting together in that room and getting to look at the staff and say thank you and thank you for taking a chance on this and for trusting us with your career and with students and with programming.

“There was like — I don’t know how to explain it — there was just a buzz in the room that was like palpable. They’re excited to be here. Staff are excited to be here. I’m excited to be here.

“Kids are excited, families are excited. This community is excited for what this space could hold, too.”

Natalia Almanzar Hernandez, a 17-year-old senior, will be studying engineering and design.

“When I first came in here, I was actually really excited,” she said. “This is the first year I’ve been excited to come to school. It’s like so new. It’s like a fresh new start. I’m just really excited.”

Mayella Hernandez Quintana, a 17-year-old senior in the computer science and information technology pathway, also was excited to get started.

“I’ve been a part of this since I think before December,” Quintana said. “I’ve been so excited to see the building and see how the rooms get filled up and hear a bunch from all the different teachers. It’s so exciting being involved. I’ve already got so many opportunities lined up just for being a part of the student ambassadors.”

Quintana is in the dual enrollment program with Reading Area Community College and is planning to attend Kutztown University in the game development or data science program after graduating from high school.

“Because of the Reading School District and Innovation Academy, I’m going to be able to graduate from RACC before I graduate from from the high school,” she said. “Graduating this May from RACC, and then come June, I’m free from high school.”

Academy students will participate in a range of career-readiness experiences, including college visits, internships, job application training and industry engagement, officials said.

The program is designed to move beyond traditional classroom instruction, incorporating project-based learning, team collaboration and capstone experiences, they said.

The district created a rotating seminar program to give freshmen exposure to academy during designated periods while keeping them based at the main high school campus.

Monday’s opening culminated an uncertain journey for the project.

The U.S. Department of Education in March 2025 revoked more than $51 million in previously approved federal funds designated for the project. District officials said the significant funding gap could delay or jeopardize construction of the academy.

That action was reversed in a May 2025 court order that restored funding for the project.