The Vicksburg Warren School District Board of Trustees approved travel to Hawaii for Board President Jim Sturgis to attend an upcoming conference where the district is expected to receive an award. But just what is this award?

VWSD Superintendent Dr. Tori Holloway said the district is “hoping to be recognized for national model status (concerning the Vicksburg High School and Warren Central High School academies).

“Last year, in Chicago, the ACME  (Academy of Architecture, Construction, Mechatronics and Engineering) received it. This year, Vicksburg High School is going through their baseline review. Even if we don’t (get the award), we still go,” he said. “The district has gone every year since we’ve had district academies. Whether we get it or we don’t, we still attend. It’s about learning best practices, to improve what we’re doing, so we can get to model status.”

The ACME academy is one of three academies that also includes CAB (Communications, Arts and Business) and HHS (Health and Human Services). The ACME academy focuses on career choices related to technology, design, innovations and other similar vocational paths.

“There are 10 NSOPs they have to meet—NSOPs are National Standards of Practice,” Holloway said.” We’ll be at this conference next year and every year after that. This (NCAC) has been around since 1997. Hawaii has been coming over here since 2002, I think, so this is their first opportunity to host this conference. It probably won’t be in Hawaii again for another 23 years. We were supposed to go to a Leader in Me Symposium in Los Angeles — it was double what y’all saw (the travel figures to go to Chicago and Hawaii). Double.”

Holloway said the planned trip for Hawaii is expected to be slightly less expensive, at $2,404 per participant, than last year’s conference in Chicago, which costs $2,474 per participant.

According to the National Career Academy Coalition website, the 10 standards are:

1. Defined Mission and Goals – The career academy has a written mission, goals, and benchmarks. These are developed, reviewed, available, and known by the administrators, teachers, students, parents, advisory board, and others involved in the academy. These include at least the following elements: connect postsecondary education and career; raise and maintain student aspirations; increase student achievement; show a commitment to equity.
2. Academy Design – An academy has a well-defined structure within the high school, reflecting its status as a small learning community.
3. Host community and High School – Career academies exist in a variety of district and high school contexts which are important determinants of an academy’s success.
4. Faculty and Staff – Appropriate staff selection, leadership, credentialing and cooperation are critical to an academy’s success.
5. Professional Development and Continuous Learning – Since an academy places teachers and other adults into roles not normally included in their previous training, providing adequate professional development time, leadership and support are critical.
6. Governance & Leadership – The academy has a governing structure that incorporates the explicit roles of all stakeholders and the leaders of the advisory board.
7. Teaching & Learning – The teaching and learning within an academy meets or exceeds external standards and college entrance requirements, while differing from a comprehensive high school by focusing learning around a theme.
8. Employer, post-secondary education and community involvement – A career academy links high school to its host community and involves members of the employer, post-secondary education and civic community in certain aspects of its operation.
9. Student assessment – Improvements in student performance are central to an academy’s mission. It is important to gather data that reflect whether students are showing improvement and to report these accurately and fairly to maintain the academy’s integrity.
10. Sustainability – No new academy functions perfectly. Even well established and highly functioning academies benefit from self-examination and refinement. Ensuring and improving the quality of a career academy requires engaging in a regular cycle of improvement.