The Career Building AcademyProposed Charter School

Mission Statement

The mission of the E3 (Engage-Educate-Employ) Program for The Career Building Academy (TCBA) Charter School is to encourage and induce emerging and high school dropouts to re-engage in education, recover the required credits to graduate, enter into a career technical education certificate program, and take part in a career-specific apprenticeship that will lead to successful long-term employment.

Schools not making the Grade (BY GAYLE PEREZ THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN) Published: December 26, 2013; Last modified: December 26, 2013 05:00AM

The majority of local schools aren’t making good grades when it comes to student achievement, according to a statewide Colorado School Grades.

There were no local schools to receive an A grade and only four local schools, three in Pueblo County District 70 and one in Pueblo City Schools (D60), were issued a B grade on the 2013 report cards released by Colorado School Grades.

The report was developed by a coalition of 18 organizations which ranks the state’s public schools using a letter-grade format. The ratings, which are in the third year, provide an alternative to the Colorado Department of Education’s rankings by assigning a letter grade based on a school’s performance. Along with the letter grade, the schools receive a numerical ranking.

The majority of District 70 schools received C grades while the bulk of D60s schools received D grades. All D60 high schools received D grades, with the exception of the charter school, Dolores Huerta Preparatory Academy which was issued a C-.

District 60 District 70 HIGH SCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL Centennial D+ Pueblo County D Central DPueblo West C East D Rye C South D+ Dolores Huerta C-

The Education Need in Pueblo

High School Dropout rates for Pueblo 60 in 2011, 9.1%. (CDE data)

Remediation Rates for college in 2011, 51.4% for students who have graduated.

Marijuana Use: At least 1 time in the past 30 days for 2012, 35.4%.

Graduation Rate for 2012/2013, 64.2% (D60 website)

Homeless students for 2012/2013 = 1,355

Unemployment Rate in Pueblo County for 2012, 10.7%.

Poverty Rates for Pueblo County for 2011, 19%.

Unemployment Rate for youth in Colorado for 2013, 16.1%.

Pueblo County Quick Facts

Judith Martinez and Peter Fritz, Director and Principal Consultant, respectively, for the Dropout Prevention and Student Engagement Office at the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) delineate the personal and social costs of dropping out:

The average dropout earns $17,299 per year compared to $26,933 for a high school graduate and $52,671 for someone with a bachelor’s degree (U.S. Bureau of Census).

Over a 45 year career compared to a dropout: A high school graduate will earn an additional $433,530 A bachelor’s degree recipient will earn an additional $1,591,740

Less than 46 percent of the nation’s young high school dropouts were employed during 2008, reflecting an average joblessness rate of 54%.*

The incidence of institutionalization problems among young high school dropouts was 6.3 times higher than among young high school graduates.*

The Economic Need to Graduate Students

The TCBA Charter School takes a three-tiered comprehensive systems approach to the school dropout crisis. It endeavors to Engage, Educate, and Employ the 16- to 20-year-old population, to increase the likelihood of their becoming educated, resourceful, and contributing members of our communities.

It maintains that adopting a single program will not solve Colorado’s or the nation’s accelerating dropout problem. An individualized approach, incorporating a range of wrap around services, will highly engage this high-risk population.

TCBA Program Overview

We engage our students with a Boomerang workshop conducted by Youth Transformation Center.

This 10-hour workshop is the first step in breaking down the barriers required to be successful. This workshop has the premise of what you give out comes back. This means if you give respect you will be treated with respect.

Engaging Students

Our program will allow students to work at their own pace with guidance from certified teachers and principals. We use a hybrid model of instruction by requiring students to attend school each day while working on a computer-based program.

While we rely on online curriculum, we recognize the importance of supportive teacher-to-student relationships to optimize learning. Our low teacher-student ratio allows individual mentoring as well as the ability to build rich, yet professional, relationships.

Educating Students

From the Colorado Fact Sheet, under student performance, it is noted that 84% of CTE high school students graduated, 93% of the students met performance goals for reading/language arts skills and 97% went on to postsecondary education, the workforce, or the military.

One of the many benefits of CTE training being tied to core academics is the ability and opportunity to put core academics into practice. This can be easily seen and demonstrated in the construction career pathway. Career Technical Education works for this student population. By providing an employment opportunity to students, there is a reason to attend school, to engage in the process, and to graduate.

Employing Students

Automotive – Currently we offer automotive at the Colorado Springs site. Students learn foundational principles, take on a “project” car, and fleet maintenance.

Solar – With the anticipated 200m dollar project, and this emerging industry, Pueblo is the perfect campus to offer this vocational track.

IT – this high-demand vocation track is a new field that TCBA is entering into. With more jobs than employees, this certification program is a natural fit for TCBA students.

Pueblo Vocational Tracks under

Consideration

First Graduating Class

In January 2014, 12 students graduated from our program.

In May of 2014, we are anticipating 14 students to graduate.

Our goal is to graduate 70% of our student population in 2 school years.

This saves El Paso County over 5M.

We believe by leveraging technology in a classroom setting with teacher support and providing a hands-on component is using the most effective means of education available today.

Students, regardless of how they learn, can have an avenue to succeed in our programming by an individual academic plan and a skilled trade.

Students learn the “soft skills” needed to be successful in an employment situation.

Educational Philosophy