SUMMIT HIGH STUDENT PART OF INAUGURAL CLASS AT P-TECH ACADEMY
Ethan Perez is a student at Summit High School , but he is not a traditional student . Ethan is part of the inaugural class at the new choice school in Mansfield ISD , the P-TECH Academy . The academy is a school within Summit High School with 44 students currently enrolled .
P-TECH stands for Pathways to Technology and Early College High School . It is a public education reform model created by IBM and focused on career and college readiness .
Lesley Hash , associate principal at Summit High School and principal of the P-TECH Academy , wants people to understand that P-TECH is more than just its name .
“ A lot of people want to worry about and focus on the name of P-TECH ,” Hash said . “ The true meaning behind P-TECH is what we want to do at Summit , which is to offer life changing opportunities for students and parents .”
Comparable to the Early College High School program at Timberview High School , Summit P-TECH Academy students will graduate with a high school diploma , a no-cost associate ’ s degree with a STEM focus , and an industry-level certification in programming or cybersecurity .
“ We want to be able to offer kids the opportunity to leave high school with an industry certification that allows them to make six figures within five years [ post-graduation ] in a field that is growing at about 25 % over the next five years ,” Hash said . “ There are opportunities waiting at every turn .”
For Ethan , it was an opportunity he couldn ’ t pass up . “ Free college hours , your basic TCC courses , and when you leave high school , you are life and college ready ,” Ethan said . “ I kind of expected it to be like a normal high school where they just have one class that teaches technology , but it ’ s really more than that . It ’ s great .”
Similar to the students at Early
College High School , P-TECH students will spend the first two years at Summit High School and split their junior and senior years between Summit and Tarrant County College .
Where P-TECH differs from Early College is the integration of the students . P-TECH students are very much a part of Summit High School . They take classes alongside other Summit students and can participate in extracurricular activities — such as band , theater , choir , sports , and more — by taking summer courses at TCC .
As Summit High School Principal Jason Mutterer explained , “ Basically , they ’ ll have a TCC schedule while still remaining students here at Summit High School .” As principal , Mutterer is excited to serve a new segment of the Mansfield ISD community .
“ It ’ s an exciting opportunity to have a school of choice within our high school ,” Mutterer said .
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