Academies of Nashville – Preparing for College & Career

Academies allow students to choose a course of study based on a specific thematic or academic focus.

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Host Jeremy C. Park talks with Jennifer Bell, Director of the Academies of Nashville and Career and Technical Education at Metro Nashville Public Schools, who highlights their 35 academies with their 12 zoned high schools, which are built on the foundations of college and career readiness. The academies high school experience allows students to select a themed academy (similar to a college major) to study throughout their high school career, including everything from automotive to healthcare to IT. Students can gain early college credit, industry recognized credentials, and take advanced academic courses to assist in their journey to their next destination. During the interview, Jennifer talks about these benefits, their 15 year anniversary, ways the community can engage through internships, mentorship, job shadowing, guest speaking, career fairs and more.

What are the Academies?
- How we do high school at our 12 zoned schools
- Built on the foundations of college and career readiness, an academies high school experience allows students to:
  - Select a themed academy (similar to a college major) to study throughout their high school career, including everything from automotive to healthcare to IT.
  - Gain early college credit, industry recognized credentials, and take advanced academic courses to assist in their journey to their next destination (college, career, etc).
  - Have a more personalized experience within these smaller learning communities built within the academy structure.
- We have 35 academies within our 12 zoned high schools.
- 15,000 students within MNPS attend an AON high school
- Shift in the way we did things due to COVID, opportunities with technology that hadn’t been there before…etc…
- In addition to excellent staff, teachers, and students, the model relies on community investment from local nonprofit and for-profit businesses to provide real world experiences for our students. Have to see it to be it.
The Power of Partnership
- Ways to engage in the academies:
  - Career Fair (virtual)
  - Guest speaking
  - Field Trips
  - Job Shadows
  - Mentorship
  - Internships
- If you or your organization is looking to get involved in this work, please reach out to us!
Celebrating 15 Years
- Like many have said, the last two years have been unprecedented. We have learned so much and had some heartaches, as well as successes.
- We are lucky enough to be celebrating 15 years of the Academies of Nashville in the 2020-2021 school year, and we are taking the lessons we have learned from that time to think about our next.
- Stay tuned to see what excellent opportunities we have in store.