The Conroe ISD Career and Technical Education program is seeing growth in popularity as it continues to partner with local industries and build new facilities in the area, officials said.
CISD does not have a central CTE facility where students train and learn. Instead, different courses and curriculum are offered in The Woodlands area at The Woodlands, College Park, Grand Oaks and Oak Ridge high schools.
CISD CTE Director Tally Jo Stout said the program offers 26 specialized programs of study with over 140 different offerings. The most valuable aspects of the program are the various learning opportunities, she said.
“Conroe ISD is deeply committed to authentic, hands-on learning and work-based experiences that connect classroom instruction to real careers,” Stout said.
CISD has developed its program through new renovations at the Oak Ridge High School Ninth-Grade Campus, which are set to be completed by January. The new renovations include new welding, culinary stations and computer labs.
“[New labs] will increase student access, reduce capacity barriers, and create stronger entry points into advanced CTE programs offered throughout South County,” Executive Director of Communications Andrew Stewart said.
Major takeaways
Stewart said the four most popular CTE career clusters in the district include business, marketing, and finance; health science; hospitality and tourism; and arts, audio-visual technology and communications.
The health science pathway is available at all four campuses in The Woodlands and South Montgomery County, and it remains one of the many popular courses among students, he said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, education and health services are among the fastest-growing occupations in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands area. For example, as of May 2025, there are an estimated 65,910 nurses in the area with an annual median wage of $99,830. In comparison, the national median salary for a registered nurse is $97,550. The healthcare science program is one of many available for students in the CTE cluster.
What they're saying
The district’s CTE programs have partnered with local businesses and higher education institutions such as Lone Star College-Montgomery.
LSC hosts a dual credit program with CISD for its automotive course, taught by instructor Michael LeBlanc, where students can receive an Automotive Service Technician Level 1 certificate.
“The demand for skilled technicians continues to grow, while the industry faces a significant shortage of qualified workers,” LeBlanc said.
The Education for Tomorrow Alliance, which connects local businesses with schools and students, also works to bridge this gap in Montgomery County.
“I think that anytime you give students a snapshot of possibility, it’s a win,” EFTA President Monica Enia said.
Measuring the impact
Despite the increased investment in CTE, officials said the district has not scaled back on other programs, such as Advanced Placement.
As the CTE courses continue to grow, CISD officials said other essential courses, such as AP, will continue to receive support. Interest in both AP and CTE remains strong and is not viewed as competing pathways internally.
“AP, honors, dual-credit and other advanced academic opportunities remain important parts of the district’s academic program,” Stewart said.
Stewart also confirmed that the district has purchased updated AP textbooks for the upcoming school year along with other future investments into the program.
Dollars at work
Recent investments into the district’s CTE program, such as renovations at the Oak Ridge High School Ninth-Grade Campus, are part of an ongoing initiative to grow CTE in the past few years. In 2019, CISD voters passed a $653.5 million bond to fund multiple upgrades across the school district, including CTE programs and facilities.
Using $13.4 million of the 2019 bond funds, the district added a three-story classroom wing to The Woodlands High School. The classroom itself was built for science, chemistry and CTE programs, among other focuses. The upgrades were completed in August 2021.
Another example of these upgrades is the South County CTE Center, which was completed in August 2023. The facility serves the Oak Ridge and Grand Oaks feeder patterns, and the upgrades were to add additional facilities to support more CTE career clusters.
What's next
As CISD prepares for the future, officials have announced multiple new programs and emphasized previous initiatives to properly prepare students for their post-high school careers.
These programs include Advanced Certificate Pathways (Levels 1 and 2), The Texas Standard, Early Career Awareness, and My Future My Path Week. These primarily focus on informing students as early as pre-K on the different career pathways available in the district.
“We can’t afford to wait until graduation to introduce students to careers. Workforce development begins long before a diploma; it starts with exposure, exploration and real-world experiences beginning in middle school,” Stout said.
