save students time and money if they plan to pursue a college degree.
“Students can explore what they want to do while they are in high school instead of spending that money while
they are in college,” Belliveau said. “I think one of the most important things to note is that these courses
don’t have just one exit point. Just because you get a certification does not mean you have to go straight to the
workforce immediately. You can go into technical school or community college, you can go into a four-year
university or into the military. These courses are providing the knowledge and skills for multiple exit points that
would allow you to further your education after high school as well.”
In the STEM field, students can earn SolidWorks Associate, Master Cam, RobotC and OSHA General Industry
certifications to help better prepare them for roles in robotics and engineering. Students can also enroll in AP
Computer S cience courses that fulfill math requirements for graduation, as well as offer the opportunity to
receive college credit based on their AP test scores.
In addition to the numerous career opportunities that await students in the STEM field after graduation, another
benefit to pursuing these courses is the opportunity to join the award-winning Rockwall High School and
Rockwall-Heath High School robotics teams.
In 2018, Rockwall High School Robotics won the Chairman’s Award at the FIRST Dallas Regional
Championship and advanced to the FIRST Worlds Championship in Houston. Rockwall-Heath High School
Robotics won the Rock City Regional and the Industrial Design Award in Little Rock, Arkansas and qualified
for the FIRST Worlds Championship in Houston as well. Although both teams will now be housed at the
Academy, they will remain separate entities for each main high school.
Another one of the most popular vocational high school programs is culinary arts. The Rockwall ISD Culinary
Arts Team are back-to-back state champions in the National Restaurant Association ProStart Invitational
Competition, and in 2018 they placed 2nd in the nation.
With brand new facilities and a larger staff of three teachers, the culinary program will continue to grow in the
2018-2019 school year. The Academy will house The Crave Café: a full-service restaurant and coffee café with
limited hours throughout the school year so that the students can sharpen their cooking and plating skills by
serving real customers.
Local organizations and charity groups will be able to reserve seating and host lunch meetings at The Crave
Café catered entirely by the students.
“The students will learn how to make all types of international cuisine from scratch,” Belliveau said.
The culinary program isn’t the only part of campus with a specialized classroom. Students interested in audio/
video production can enroll in a practicum class that takes place in a fully-fledged TV studio. Forensic science
and health science courses will take place in fully-equipped labs. Law classes will be held in a classroom that
converts into a courtroom.
As part of the project-based, problem solving learning style used in classes at the Academy, law students will not
only learn the principles of law but will also practice them. Mock trials will be held in the Academy courtroom
where students will participate as jury members (with their very own jury deliberation room).
Dr. Villarreal said using project-based, problem solving methodology that analyzes current processes and looks
for ways to improve them will be fundamental to the learning style across all classes at the Academy. The idea
stems from a business management model adopted by Toyota and other major companies used to map the
road to a more productive workforce with greater efficiency. Applying this management model to instructional
learning has been a dream of Dr. Villarreal’s for a long time.
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