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EGUSD in the Spotlight
Laguna Creek High School hosts ConnectEd Policy Site Visit
On January 16 nearly 30 elected officials, state directors and other honored dignitaries descended on the campus of Laguna Creek High School to take an in-depth look at the Manufacturing Production and Technology Academy (MPTA). The visit was sponsored in partnership with ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career.
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Priscilla Cox and a MPTA student work on a project at the policy site visit.
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A ConnectEd guest works with MPTA students on a project.
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“The MPTA program at Laguna Creek was one of the first ‘academies’ that was certified at Elk Grove Unified,” said Christy Moustris, director of alternative education for the district. “This program had the honor of being selected by ConnectED as one of seven programs in the state of California to host policy site visitations.”
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EGEA President Tom Gardner works with an MPTA student on a math problem.
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The day began with a welcome EGUSD Superintendent Dr. Steven M. Ladd, ConnectEd President Gary Hoachlander, California State Senator Darrell Steinberg and MPTA Program Director Bill Giovannetti. Guests then visited classrooms, where they participated as students in lessons. MPTA teachers and students facilitated a variety of in-class activities, including: calculating the velocity a marble needs to reach to run the length of a roller-coaster track; extracting DNA; determining the physics of creating a catapult that will launch a tennis ball; and learning how to create a budget for a business project plan.
Superintendent Ladd presented a short overview of the successes of the MPTA program during lunch. Students in the MPTA program have shown higher attendance rates as well as higher overall GPAs. MPTA students have also demonstrated outstanding passage rates on both sections of the California High School Exit Exam – higher than their counterparts in the state, the district and their school. On average, 87 percent of MPTA students from the past four years have attended either a two-year or four-year college after graduation. Dr. Ladd’s presentation was followed by two separate policy discussions about state and local implementation challenges that academy programs may face.
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EGUSD Superintendent Steven M. Ladd checks out a computer program with a MPTA student.
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Laguna Creek’s MPTA program has been evolving since the school opened in 1994. Currently, MPTA has approximately 180 students enrolled and provides a rigorous four-year program that allows students hands on mastery of virtually every aspect of modern-day production and manufacturing.
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EGUSD Board Member Pollyanna Cooper-LeVangie works on a math problem with an MPTA student.
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“Our students not only are enrolled in production and manufacturing classes, but they are also required to complete general education classes as well,” said Giovannetti. “We have an outstanding team of teachers who are involved in all aspects of teaching our MPTA students. MPTA students learn how to apply technology, English, math, social science, and science skills to solve manufacturing problems. They also use technologically-advanced manufacturing and production equipment as well as learn how to research, design, engineer and market product prototypes.”
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MPTA students display one of the laws of physics through their catapult project.
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Over the course of the program, MPTA students receive hands-on training using technologically advanced equipment, which includes Computer Number Control (CNC) mill and lathe; robotics; welding; graphic design; bio-technology; aerodynamics; pneumatics; rotational, vacuum and injection molding of plastics and research and design.
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EGUSD Board member Jeanette Amavisca tests out a roller coaster project with an MPTA student.
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The MPTA program is one of 10 career technical academies and five career pathways in the District’s eight comprehensive high schools. All academies must be certified and board approved using national career academy standards, as required by the District.
The difference between an academy and a pathway involves one major variation. Career pathways are a recommended sequence of general and career technical courses related to a career focus area. Career pathways include an introductory and an intermediate career technical education course. Career academies take this a step further with additional criteria. Students in academies are assigned to a team of teachers and participate in integrated academic and career/technical courses related to a career focus area. A career academic sequence includes progressive exposure to the world of work learning to a certificate recognized by businesses and industry. A career academy is flexible, but it is constructed with a 9-12 grade sequenced, integrated course of study.
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Laguna Creek High School MPTA students work on a box project with ConnectEd visitors.
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ConnectEd plays a central role in helping to assist the James Irvine Foundation in their goal to increase the number of low-income youth in California who complete high school and achieve a college degree by the age of 25. ConnectEd is dedicated to expanding the number of education pathways that prepare students for college and career. Recently, ConnectEd provided the MPTA program at Laguna Creek with a $200,000 grant to assist in the planning and implementation of the program.
For more information on EGUSD’s academies and career pathways, please visit http://www.egusd.net/schools/academies.cfm.
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