OCM BOCES to open Cortland County New Tech high school in Fall 2016

The Onondaga-Cortland-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services (OCM BOCES) will open a New Tech high school in Cortland County in September 2016. The school will serve area high school students in grades 9-12, and will provide an innovative learning environment that aims to improve students’ college and career readiness through project-based learning, collaborative workspace and technology.

The school will also serve to equip teachers with resources that facilitate the creation of engaging curriculums with relevance to the needs of the 21st century. The new school, which has not yet been named, will be located at 240 Port Watson Street, Cortland.

“Not only will this be a school for students, but it will also be a place where teachers from all OCM BOCES districts will come to learn about project-based learning and innovative practices,” says OCM BOCES Superintendent J. Francis Manning.

There are currently more than 150 New Tech schools in 29 states across the country. This new school will join Innovation Tech High School, which OCM BOCES opened in Liverpool last fall, as the first and only two New Tech schools in Central New York.

Manning recently invited local school district leaders and local business partners together to the OCM BOCES McEvoy campus to discuss the Central New York Regional Vision for College, Career and Citizenship Readiness and ways in which both groups can collaborate and work together to provide engaging projects, shadowing opportunities, and internships for students that will be attending the new school. Cortland business leaders provided input and guidance about which employee skills and attributes would most benefit their organizations and the Cortland community.

The Central New York Regional Vision for College, Career and Citizenship Readiness represents a steadfast commitment to preparing students for their future as lifelong learners, as skilled workers or entrepreneurs, and as global citizens.

The New Tech Network and the CNY Regional Vision share three main tenets, which are “instruction that engages,” “culture that empowers,” and “technology that enables,” a philosophy which strives to empower students with engaging instruction and real-world learning opportunities, while providing a collaborative, interactive, technology-based learning environment.