Dublin City Schools’ vision is to ensure every student is prepared for success. To fulfill its vision, Dublin has worked to develop comprehensive planning and pathway opportunities for students that align with the diverse post-secondary options available. One way this has been achieved is through the Dublin City Schools Career Academies at Emerald Campus. Academies have nearly doubled in enrollment since 2020, growing from 426 to 800.
There are currently 11 pathway-focused academies in which Dublin City Schools’ high school students can participate. The model for each academy includes three key components designed to create optimal learning environments. The first component is alignment with state standards, student interest and workforce needs. This ensures that students acquire a strong educational foundation through engaging and relevant content. Secondly, each academy offers students immersive experiences that mirror real-world scenarios, providing them with a more comprehensive understanding of their respective path and opportunities to connect with industry professionals. Lastly, each academy is designed to support students regardless of their future plans.
“When planning academies, we also think about the four Es (employment, enrollment, enlistment and entrepreneurship), so a student enrolled in an academy can be prepared for the workforce, college, enlistment or a combination. We are really working to make sure our students are prepared for any pathway they choose post-graduation,” Lori Mesi, coordinator of Pathways and Partnerships, shared during a presentation at a recent Board of Education meeting.
Mesi was joined by Peter Coratola, president of EASE Logistics, Mindy Sanford, academic partnerships consultant at OhioHealth, and Scott Dring, president of Visit Dublin. The team came to share about current plans to launch three new academies at the start of the 2024-2025 school year: Logistics and Supply Chain, Healthcare Professions and Travel and Tourism.
While these academies follow the established model, a new additional component is strategic alignment with community partners.
“The idea is that the greater Dublin community is a classroom. Our students will go beyond the walls of a classroom and learn alongside our partners,” Mesi says.
These partnerships ensure that the high school learning experience is aligned to industry standards in the respective pathways, offering students the most current knowledge and skills to be competitive in a rapidly-changing workforce.
Healthcare Professions Academy
The Healthcare Professions Academy will be in partnership with OhioHealth and Columbus State Community College, allowing students who are interested in healthcare pathways to participate in college-level coursework while earning industry standard certifications through real-world content, experiences and exposure.
Students will gain skills by working alongside healthcare professionals from OhioHealth, preparing them for roles such as nursing, medical lab technician, respiratory therapy, surgical technician and many other healthcare-related roles.
This program will be held both at the Columbus State Community College Dublin branch and at various OhioHealth locations.
“The healthcare academy is going to be a great solution for our pipelines,” Sanford says. “Healthcare is not just nurses and physicians. There’s a lot of other things that people do that we want to share with students.”
Logistics and Supply Chain Academy
The Logistics and Supply Chain Academy, in partnership with Dublin-based EASE Logistics, will immerse students into the world of logistics and supply chain management.
This program equips students with the skills needed to navigate this dynamic industry, as they collaborate with EASE professionals and explore the intricacies of supply chain and its role in the global economy.
The academy will prepare students for diverse pathways in logistics and supply chain. Students who complete this will be prepared to earn connected industry credentials and may be eligible for college credit.
“We are continuously looking for ways that we can connect students and show them the importance of privately owned businesses and how we make an impact, locally and globally. Actively working on providing students and business the avenue to connect says a lot about this Board and the attention that Dublin City Schools has on procuring the workforce,” says Coratola, who is also a Dublin City Schools alum.
Travel and Tourism Academy
The third academy, Travel and Tourism, capitalizes on Dublin’s vast resources in this sector.
In partnership with Visit Dublin and Bridge Park organizations, the Travel and Tourism Academy will immerse students in various aspects of this industry, from hospitality and event management to destination marketing. Students will get to explore the world of travel and tourism through real-world experiences, which in part will take place in the backdrop of the Bridge Park and surrounding areas.
As part of completing this program, students may be eligible to earn college credit and/or industry credentials.
“Travel and tourism is actually the second largest industry in the world right now in terms of employment and capital. So there’s tremendous opportunities out there for students. We want to see them learning the industry alongside our teams at the Memorial Tournament, the Columbus Zoo, AC Marriott, and so on, giving them real, first-hand knowledge and on-site experience of what the job is,” Dring says. “I’ve talked to my colleagues across the country about this program and no one’s really heard of something like this on a high school level. It’s kind of groundbreaking stuff.”
Future Impact
According to Mesi, the community partners for each academy have played a significant role in shaping these programs. These partnerships ensure that curricula align with industry standards, offering students the most up-to-date knowledge and skills.
Moreover, they create opportunities for students to actively engage in real-world learning, connecting theory to practice and allowing students to start building their professional networks while in high school. These experiences make students not only more prepared but also more competitive in their chosen path.
“We get to prepare students for that next level in a way that is so much different than everyone else. We know that learning isn’t just one day, there’s not one opportunity to teach a kid. Learning is every day and every day that a student goes out and they’re in a hospital setting or they’re in a logistics setting or they’re in a travel and tourism setting, they could be learning the skills that are gonna help them be even more successful,” says John Marschhuasen, superintendent of Dublin City Schools. “Our academies demonstrate Dublin City Schools’ commitment to providing students with the best possible preparation for the post-secondary world. As these academies continue to evolve and expand, they will undoubtedly unlock a world of opportunities for our students.”
Currently, the following academy options are offered to Dublin City Schools students:
- Aviation
- Biomedical
- Cybersecurity
- Business
- Teaching
- Engineering
- Entrepreneurship
- Media Marketing
- Information Technology
- Sports Science
- Young Professionals
In the 2024-2025, the academy program will grow by three with the addition of Healthcare Professions, Travel and Tourism, and Logistics and Supply Chain Academy.
To learn more about the academy program, visit www.dublinschools.net/DCSAcad
Lori Mesi is the Coordinator of Pathways and Partnerships for Dublin City Schools. Cassie Dietrich is a Public Information Officer for Dublin City Schools.
