The first class of students walked through the doors of the Reading High School Innovation Academy on Monday.<\/p>\n
The academy, 817 N. Ninth St., is a $57 million career-focused learning center<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just under 500 students, which is exactly where we wanted to be for the first year of opening this building, which is really exciting,\u201d Amanda Helm, associate principal, said Monday morning as staff greeted students. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Helm credited the administrative team with preparing the building and programming and said the staff was busy last week getting ready for the opening.<\/p>\n \u201cSo our first chance to actually all sit in a room together was on Thursday,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it wasn\u2019t that I hadn\u2019t met everybody and we hadn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was like \u2014 I don\u2019t know how to explain it \u2014 there was just a buzz in the room that was like palpable. They\u2019re excited to be here. Staff are excited to be here. I\u2019m excited to be here.<\/p>\n \u201cKids are excited, families are excited. This community is excited for what this space could hold, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Natalia Almanzar Hernandez, a 17-year-old senior, will be studying engineering and design.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first came in here, I was actually really excited,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is the first year I\u2019ve been excited to come to school. It\u2019s like so new. It\u2019s like a fresh new start. I\u2019m just really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayella Hernandez Quintana, a 17-year-old senior in the computer science and information technology pathway, also was excited to get started.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been a part of this since I think before December,\u201d Quintana said. \u201cI\u2019ve 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\u2019s so exciting being involved. I\u2019ve already got so many opportunities lined up just for being a part of the student ambassadors.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of the Reading School District and Innovation Academy, I\u2019m going to be able to graduate from RACC before I graduate from from the high school,\u201d she said. \u201cGraduating this May from RACC, and then come June, I\u2019m free from high school.\u201d<\/p>\n Academy students will participate in a range of career-readiness experiences, including college visits, internships, job application training and industry engagement, officials said.<\/p>\n The program is designed to move beyond traditional classroom instruction, incorporating project-based learning, team collaboration and capstone experiences, they said.<\/p>\n