Career Academies are small, personalized learning communities centered on a career theme. These exciting programs, which include a college-prep curriculum and a path to industry certifications, challenge students and assist them in finding an engaging career path. Career Academies align with local industry needs and ensure that students are prepared to become skilled employees in high-demand occupations. Through dynamic curriculum, support from a local advisory committee and partnerships with employers, the community and higher education, students are prepared for future educational and career success.
A Career Academy involves teachers from different subjects working together as a team.
Staff teams, who often share common planning time, work together to implement the key features of the Career Academy and provide students with career training. Students may be grouped together for several periods every day with a core group of teachers. This promotes a family-like atmosphere and results in close student-teacher ties.
Additionally, many Career Academies offer opportunities for on-the-job training, job shadowing, or internships as well as the option to earn college credit while in high school.
National Accreditation
Polk County Public Schools strives to ensure that its Career Academies are high-quality. As a result, PCPS has the second highest number of National Career Academy Coalition (NCAC) accredited academies in the nation! NCAC (National Career Academy Coalition) is an organization based out of Nashville, Tennessee that supports Career Academies and conducts Career Academy Reviews to determine if an academy is a high functioning quality Career Academy.
As of 2019, thirteen PCPS Career Academies have been recognized as Model Career Academies and ten have been recognized as Certified Career Academies.