Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Fowler High School to be Phased Out in Favor of New Technical High School

fowler high school building on a sunny day
Chris Bolt
/
WAER News

A new academy will be phased in at the former Fowler High School in Syracuse starting this fall.  Poor state performance is forcing the change, which was approved Wednesday by the SCSD Board of Education.

It will be called the Public Service Leadership Academy, and will include four career-specific academies:   First Responder, Homeland Security, Military Science and Entrepreneurship. Within those academies, students can opt-in to eleven more narrow career pathways – all under one roof. 

The Public Service Leadership Academy structures its programs in partnership with higher education institutions and outside industries related to each Academy offering. So far, the SCSD says partners include Bryant and Stratton College, I.B.E.W., National Grid, Onondaga Community College, Project Lead the Way, Rural/Metro, Say Yes to Education, SRC, Inc., SUNY ESF, the Syracuse Police Department, and the Syracuse Fire Department. 

City Schools Chief Academic Officer Laura Kelly explains that choosing an area of study is only a starting point:  

Students will graduate with their Regents Diplomas as well as a Career in Technical Education (CTE) credential. Kelly says that means there will be more options for students district-wide:

So, any current 8th graders in the whole city have the opportunity to express their interest in participating and enrolling in the Public Service Leadership Academy.

Fowler High School will still have grades ten through 12 next year using the current curriculum, while the incoming 9th graders begin the new academy.  Every year thereafter another grade level from Fowler will be replaced with the new Public Service Leadership Academy students and curriculum.  

For more details about the shift to the new Leadership Academy, visit the Syracuse City School District's information page.
 

John Smith has been waking up WAER listeners for a long time as our Local Co-Host of Morning Edition with timely news and information, working alongside student Sportscasters from the Newhouse School.
Hannah vividly remembers pulling up in the driveway with her mom as a child and sitting in the car as it idled with the radio on, listening to Ira Glass finish his thought on This American Life. When he reached a transition, it was a wild race out of the car and into the house to flip on the story again and keep listening. Hannah’s love of radio reporting has stuck with her ever since.