Middlesex County Academy
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| Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Technologies | |
| Established | 2000 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public |
| Principal | Glenn J. Methner |
| Location | Edison, NJ, US |
| Students | approx. 140 |
| Faculty | approx. 19 |
| Website | http://www.mcvts.net/schools/academy.asp |
The Middlesex County Academy is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Edison, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. The school serves around 140 students of many diverse cultures from all over Middlesex County, and is part of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High Schools. The other high school in the district are located in East Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Piscataway, Woodbridge.
Contents |
[edit] History
Founded in 2000, The Academy inaugurated a freshman class of 40 students from all over the county and had its first graduating class in 2004.
[edit] Education
The major subjects of studies for four years are the following:
- English: World Literature, US Literature I/US Literature II, British Literature
- Mathematics: Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Finite Math, Calculus
- Lab Sciences: Environmental, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics
- Social Science: World History, US I/US II History
- Health and Physical Education
- World Language: Spanish I - III
- Engineering Major: During their freshman years, each student selects whether to study Electrical and Computer Engineering or Civil and Mechanical Engineering to follow for the rest of their high school years.
[edit] Engineering Majors
- C/M Engineering (Civil/Mechanical)
The Academy uses a hands-on approach to teaching students the skills that Civil and Mechanical engineers use in the workforce. Students design and create useful projects in addition to learning the basics of bridge design, beam design, and Truss analysis.
Previous projects include building a twenty-eight-foot long bridge out of PVC, foam, and wood, a fully working hovercraft, and designing a name display system for the students’ desks. All projects in the Civil/Mechanical class are fully documented and are written up in presentation quality binders.
- ECET Engineering (Electrical/Computer)
The Electrical Engineering Curriculum starts with Procedural Programming in C++ and basic analog and digital circuits and goes into C++ with Object Oriented programming, the PIC microcontroller, and Finite State Machines. The ECET program has a fully equipped electrical Lab, which is used heavily throughout the four year program.
Some of the projects in the ECET Lab have included: a digital thermometer with Celsius and Fahrenheit, a circuit to display the user's birthday, and numerous C++ programs including basic game programming such as Space Invaders.
[edit] 90-Day Exploratory Program
In order to expose students to both engineering tracks, every student goes through a 45-day program in each of the two engineering tracks. During this exploratory program, the students do hands on experiments and are taught to think in innovative ways. Lectures include introductions to new and innovative paradigms and the consequences of paradigm shifts. A favorite of the students is the egg drop experiment, in which students must get an egg from the second floor of the building to a landing zone on the first floor without the egg breaking. The electrical engineering exploratory program includes boolean logic, binary arithmetic, and a basic overview of the C++ computer language.
After the 90-day period, each student writes an essay, explaining which engineering program he/she would like to be in for the remaining 3½ years of high school. The administration and engineering teachers attempt to put the students in the classes they choose, while not violating any building or fire codes for occupancy.
[edit] Senior Project
One of the most prominent features of the Academy is Senior Project. After three years of engineering education, the fourth year is devoted to a free-form project in which students must learn to manage from start to finish a full-scale engineering project. Students must either invent a new product, or add value to an existing product. Before the project starts, students complete a full patent search, and must pick a project which is different from any existing products. Students are required to give regular progress reports and must give between five and ten presentations per quarter, including seminar presentations on topics related to their projects. Accurate gantt chart-type progress plans must be meticulously maintained alongside a full patent-ready documentation folder including an engineering notebook which must be dated, signed, and witnessed.
- Electrical Projects
Projects in the electrical engineering track must contain both a hardware and a software portion of the project. Typically, this is satisfied using a PIC microcontroller or other, similar device programmed in assembly code.
Projects in the Electrical track have included a hydrogen fuel cell powered R/C car, an automatic door lock, a self-regulating awning, a chair with built in rumble/surround sound, and an automatic coupon calculator.
- Civil/Mechanical Projects
Projects in the Civil/Mechanical track must be approved by the instructor and generally contain no complex electronics. As such, projects are limited to things which can be built in the classroom using the available tooling.
Projects in the C/M track have included a hand operated trash compactor, a new type of whiteboard eraser, a self-cleaning rake, and a system for removing excess carbon monoxide from car exhaust using hemoglobin.
[edit] Electives
Unlike other high schools, students at the Academy can only take electives in their Junior and Senior years. The Electives taught in-house include: Spanish III, Contemporary World Studies, American Government, Creative Writing I and II, Public Speaking and Rhetoric, Technical Writing I and II
Students are also encouraged to take classes at Middlesex County College which fit into the allotted time slot. This enables students able to take college classes for credit, many of which apply to both High School and College education.
[edit] Sports
The Academy introduced its first Varsity and Junior Varsity team in the sport of soccer in the 2003 Season. The Eagles most recently finished second in the Gold Division of the Greater Middlesex Conference with a 9-3 record in the 2006 regular season. They have been led by Coach Kathy McNulty since their inaugural year and has a 29-19-1 record since the Eagles joined the Gold Division in 2004.
[edit] Admissions
All prospective students must pass a rigorous testing procedure, including a standardized test and an interview. Prospective students are then ranked, and the highest qualifying score from each municipality is given the slot reserved for that community (each municipality in the Middlesex County has a single slot reserved for it). The remaining students are then ranked in order and the highest scoring students are selected. There are 40 slots available in each incoming freshman class.
[edit] Administration
- Glenn J. Methner - Principal
- Robert E. Weglarz - Assistant Principal / Counselor
