The Cool School
Date Posted: February 15, 2022
Posted In: Ideas,
From CannonDesign’s FLOURISH: “Let me introduce you to my friend, KR5,” says Dr. Kim Moore, Assistant Superintendent at Pasco County Schools in Wesley Chapel, Florida. KR5 is the name of the drone buzzing around the construction site for the Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation. It’s capturing aerial footage of the new Career and Technical Education campus—a building Dr. Moore says is “not going to look like anything you’ve ever seen before. This is going to be a cool school.”
Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation (KRAI) is indeed going to be very cool. Its cantilevered entry, open-air circulation and contemporary identity make it a shining example of progressive architecture. But what really distinguishes it from other high schools is the immense impact it will have on students and their future career prospects.
The 180,000-square-foot building will be focused on Career and Technical Education (CTE), which is a pedagogical approach that prepares students for high-wage, high-skill, high-demand careers. It will offer hands-on, interactive learning that teaches skills more than theory—arming students with the competencies needed to successfully transition from high school to careers, or into college and beyond.
The skills gap is real.
High schools like KRAI play a critical role in tackling the skills shortage faced by the U.S. workforce. In the manufacturing industry alone, the current skills gap is anticipated to leave 2.1 million jobs unfilled by 2030, which could cost the U.S. economy as much as $1 trillion. Similar realities exist in many other industries—technology, healthcare, engineering and the financial/business service sector to name a few.
Recognizing the gravity of this challenge, in 2018, Congress reauthorized the Strengthening Career and Technical Education Act for the 21st Century (also referred to as Perkins V). It’s the largest federal investment in secondary education, supercharging CTE programs in all 50 states and territories.