For Immediate Release

Monday, Oct. 21, 2019

Contact: Jordan Mayblum
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: jordan@jgpr.net

Essex Tech Recieves $100,000 Grant to Support Career and Technical Education Partnership Programs

DANVERS — Superintendent Heidi Riccio is pleased to announce that Essex Tech has received a $100,000 grant to help grow Career and Technical Education (CTE) partnership programs with nearby communities, and increase the opportunities available for North Shore students to access CTE.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has awarded a Career and Technical Education Partnership Implementation Grant to Essex Tech. The funding will be used to support its newly launched programs that engage high school students from Peabody and Salem.

With the grant, Essex Tech will be able to increase capacity and enhance the amount of students served by the partnership with Salem and Peabody, enabling previously-waitlisted students to enroll.

Essex Tech was one of just six districts or technical schools in Massachusetts to receive this grant.

Students in the new two-year programs attend class each weekday at their respective high schools in the morning, and travel to Essex Tech for vocational and technical education in the afternoon.

The purpose of this federally funded grant is to support regional and local partnerships to expand existing and develop new CTE programs and initiatives that increase student access to CTE opportunities, primarily through more effective use and integration of existing capacity and resources.

The newly-awarded grant funding comes in addition to a $300,000 Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation grant awarded in June to support the creation of an Advanced Manufacturing and Construction and Craft Laborer program for high school students at Salem and Peabody High Schools.

Last school year, Essex Tech launched it’s first CTE Partnership Program, allowing students from Gloucester High School to take half of their courses at Gloucester High before being transported by bus to Essex Tech to learn landscaping, masonry and carpentry skills. This school year, Essex Tech expanded that program to allow Salem and Peabody Public School students to participate in an Advanced Manufacturing program or a Construction and Craft Laborer program. Essex Tech has partnered closely with the Construction and Crafts Laborers Union Local 22 to make the Construction and Craft Laborer program a reality.

Through a partnership with North Shore Community College, participants can take additional courses to gain credits toward an associate’s degree. Both advanced manufacturing and construction workers are in high demand for workforce placement in northeastern Massachusetts.

“These programs provide a vital link to career pathways for students in our surrounding communities, expanding access to diverse educational experiences and opening up so many opportunities for them once they graduate,” Superintendent Riccio said. “I’m so grateful for this support, and for the work it will empower us to do to strengthen our work and make these programs as effective as possible for all of the students involved.”

There are 25 students from Peabody and Salem currently enrolled in the program.

The federal program is funded under the Strengthening Career and Technical Education in the 21st Century Act and is designed to support existing programs like the ones at Essex Tech.

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