Gadsden City High plans Titan Signature Academies to get students college and career ready
The days of Alabama's graduating high school seniors getting a diploma, a handshake and a “congratulations and good luck” are about to end, and Gadsden's school system is getting ready.
Students in the Class of 2026 — this year's sophomores — will have to demonstrate they are ready for college or a career to graduate. Gadsden City High School hopes to provide their best chance to do that by instituting Titan Signature Academies.
The program was unveiled Feb. 26 to a crowd of 300 including parents, school officials, teachers and other stakeholders in the community at The Venue at Coosa Landing.
There will be four academies, reflecting specific fields of interest, that will allow students to plan classes aligned with their talents and their career goals.
Each academy features an assortment of “pathways,” including college prep, honors and technical programs, through which students through personalized learning environments can gain the practical knowledge and skills to get to their individual objectives, whether it's college or diving right into the workforce.
The college and career readiness requirements were adopted by the state Board of Education in 2022, and codified by the state Legislature last year. They originally were set to take effect for the Class of 2028, but Marcia Farabee, Gadsden City Schools' director of curriculum and instruction, said system officials subsequently learned that had been moved up.
“We had started brainstorming ways to meet the requirements … for the current eighth graders,” Farabee said. “When that was changed to the current 10th graders, we had to expedite.”
She said other school systems have been doing signature academies for years, so Gadsden City moved in that direction, considering what the high school currently offers, what its teachers are qualified to do and what students' interests are.
Farabee directed a committee that included Kevin Young, school improvement and accountability specialist at GCHS, and Brent Morgan an assistant principal with a career tech background. They analyzed data, researched what other systems are doing and consulted with the state Department of Education's office of school improvement.
They also reached out to Tena King, Gadsden's director of city services, and Christi Robinson, president and chief executive officer of The Chamber of Gadsden & Etowah County, to get input “on what businesses they're recruiting and what does the workforce in this county need to look like in five to 10 years,” Farabee said.
The academies and pathways they came up with are:
• Communications, Arts and Business: Advertising Design; Arts Music and Performance Production; Arts Professional Design and Graphic Arts; Business Management and Administration; Finance and Accounting; Legal Services and Public Safety; Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
• Health Scienes, Human Services and Hospitality: Cosmetology; Education andCounseling; Fashion Design; Health and Biomedical Studies; Leadership, Government and Public Administration; Restaurant, Hospitality and Tourism Services.
• Interdisciplinary Studies: Advance Honors and College Prep; Career Prep.
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Industrial Services: Automotive Service and Technology; Building Science; Electrical Technology; Engineering; GRACE Academy; Industrial Robotics and Automation; Networking and Cybersecurity.
Students wouldn't be locked into pathways, Farabee said, and could change if they see a particular field isn't right for them.
Inside the pathways, courses like English and math, especially in the junior and senior years, will be structured to focus on how they're applicable to students' chosen fields; the goal is to keep students more engaged.
GCHS also will switch from a four-block to a five-block schedule, which will help students fit into pathways while still being able to do activities like athletics and band, and even allow those on an honors track to take career tech courses if they like.
Farabee sees expanded options for students as far as dual enrollment (not just for the college bound but for those in career tech), apprenticeships and internships.
The metrics that will be used by the state Department of Education for assessing college and career readiness are:
• Earning a benchmark score in any subject area on the ACT college entrance exam.
• Earning a qualifying score of 3 or higher on an Advanced Placement exam.
• Earning a qualifying score of 4 or higher on an International Baccalaureate exam.
• Earning college credit while in high school.
• Earning a silver or gold level on the ACT WorkKeys Exam.
• Completing an in-school youth apprenticeship program.
• Earning a career technical industry credential listed on the compendium of valuable credentials of the Alabama Committee on Credentialing and Career Pathways.
• Being accepted into the military before graduation.
• Attaining Career and Technical Education completer status.
• Any other college and career readiness indicator approved by the state school board.
“We want to make sure our students are not college and career ready based on a title,” Farabee said, “but that they're truly college and career ready for this community and for jobs that we don't even know will be in this county. We're training kids for jobs that don't exist yet.”
A Career Explorations program has been in place for two years at the city's three middle schools (Emma Sansom, Gadsden and Litchfield), which Farabee said will be crucial in preparing future high school students for the academies.
It uses Junior Achievement simulation programs along with Kuder Navigator, a career planning system. The goal is to introduce them to various careers while emphasizing civic responsibility, critical thinking skills, entrepreneurship and financial planning.
Farabee said buy-in from parents and students is essential, and that providing information about the program is the key.
The message of the academies is clear, however. “We are invested in our students from the time they enter our school system (to) way beyond, as an adult,” Farabee said. “It's not going to be just checking a box. Our kids are going to be ready.”
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Titan Signature Academies are coming to Gadsden City High School
