The details
Kelley Henderson, executive director of college and career readiness, gave a presentation about the expansion to the board during NISD's regular meeting Dec. 9. She said the district currently has seven academies, as well as 22 programs of study that are offered at all comprehensive high schools.
She added that district officials analyze several factors when making changes and/or additions to the CTE program. These include:
- Labor market data
- Academic rigor
- Student interest and marketability
- Texas Education Agency CTE programs of study
- Facility needs and resource requirements
- Business and industry partners
Henderson said students enrolled in the Construction Academy will learn hands-on construction career skills in the following areas:
- HVAC
- Plumbing
- Carpentry
- Electrical
- Site safety
- Construction management
“We know there’s a really strong demand for trades-based training,” Henderson said. “We want students to have a broad experience with construction trades. As they move to their junior and senior year, they can specialize in certain trades.”
A district news release states enrollment requests for the construction academy, which will be housed at Northwest High School, are already underway in advance of its August opening. Funding for the academy was approved by voters in the 2021 bond election.
According to the news release, the Transportation, Automation & Logistics Academy will be located at the district’s upcoming fourth comprehensive high school and will reflect the transportation advancements happening in nearby AllianceTexas, a global logistics hub. Program areas include:
- Automotive technologies
- Diesel mechanics
- Automation and software programming
“When we talk about automation, we know there’s technology being developed right now that our students are going to learn as part of their career,” Superintendent Mark Foust said. “With this academy, we want to be in a position where we can interact with those changes in industry. We want students to have experience with diesel and other traditional transportation aspects of the industry as we have a foot in the future with automation and other industry-leading technologies and trends.”
The news release states enrollment requests for the new transportation academy will begin in winter 2026 in preparation for the high school’s opening in the 2027-28 school year. To support the academy, the school will be outfitted with the following:
- Automotive-oriented classrooms
- Automotive bays
- Industry-specific computer and programming labs
- Innovation makerspace outfitted with automation and logistics technologies
