Andrada Polytechnic High School

Andrada Polytechnic High School or Andrada Poly is a school under construction in Vail, Arizona. It is expected to be completed and ready for students in the 2012-2013 school year. It is being built under job cuts and was on hold for quite some time before getting the go ahead to start. It is expected to help the overcrowding in Vail's two traditional high schools, Cienega High School and Empire High School, with a planned capacity of at least 500 students. Andrada will also be the new location of the district's alternative school, Pantano High School, moving off of Cienega's campus.

Focus

The school will focus on biotechnology, automotive repair, and health care. Every student will have to take one of the three as an elective. In the student's senior year at graduation, he or she will receive a certificate to be technician, medical assistant, an interning athletic trainer, or a certified mechanic, so he or she may get a job right after high school, which can possibly turn into a career.

It will not include competitive athletic facilities. Students will be eligible to compete in athletics at Empire.^[1]

Unique elements

Andrada is also introducing something new to Vail schools, it is introducing "Freedom with Responsibility". Andrada will give all students one hour every single day for a "free period". Students will be able to go wherever they would like during this time. Although there will not be a designated lunch hour the cafeteria will be open all day so students can also eat during their unassigned time. The goal when making the school was to make it a lot like a community college, in order for students to easily be prepared for their life outside of high school.

Andrada, like Empire, is also giving the students computers instead of textbooks to make learning more efficient.

References