DANVERS — Superintendent Heidi Riccio is pleased to announce that Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School has been awarded $200,000 from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to expand its programming for the North Shore Partnership Pathways Expansion Project.
Essex Tech launched the partnership program with Gloucester Public Schools in January 2019 which allowed Gloucester High School students to take half of their courses at Gloucester High School before being transported by bus to Essex Tech to learn landscaping, masonry and carpentry skills. This past school year, Essex Tech expanded the program to allow Salem and Peabody Public School students to participate in an Advanced Manufacturing program or a Construction and Craft Laborer program as well.
The grant will allow the school to expand its programming opportunities to Beverly Public School students, and also add new programs of study and expand existing programs to additional students. As a result of the grant going forward, students from Beverly, Gloucester, Peabody and Salem Public Schools will be able to take their core academic classes at their public high schools before traveling to Essex Tech to study one of the following programs:
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Automotive Collision Repair and Refinishing
- Construction Craft Laborer
- Design and Visual Communication
- Sustainable Horticulture
“We are absolutely thrilled to announce this expansion to our partnership programming, and to be able to offer career and technical education opportunities to more students here on the North Shore,” Superintendent Riccio said. “These industries need skilled employees and we will be preparing these students for careers where they will be able to find jobs, locally. We’re so thankful to DESE for recognizing this need and supporting this program.”
North Shore Community College is also currently partnering with Essex Tech through this program to offer opportunities for students to earn college credit as a result of the high demand the labor market faces for full-time, skilled and credentialed employees.
In order to receive the grant, Essex Tech was required to demonstrate both a need for employees in each industry as well as student interest. Essex Tech has a significant wait list each year, indicating a need for additional career, technical and agricultural education opportunities on the North Shore. The freshman class for the 2020-21 school year will hold more than 425 students out of more than 1,000 applicants.
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