EDUCATION Tomball ISD, community partners apply to offer early college high school in health professions
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Meetingworkforce needs If approved, the P-TECH program will be housed at the Tomball Innovation Center on FM 2920, Thompson said. “The state’s P-TECH initiative allows districts to pursue an inno- vative model that allows students a highly focused program of study in a high-demand, high-wage field,” Thompson said in a statement. “Our P-TECH in health professions will allow students to gain hands-on and on-site training that
BY ANNA LOTZ
going off to a university right after high school, someone who thinks, ‘Maybe I want to go into health care,’ and they just want to explore it,” LSC-Tomball President Lee Ann Nutt said. Proposing a P-TECH Nutt said the proposed P-TECH builds on the relationship TISD and LSC-Tomball have formed for Tomball Star Academy, TISD’s early college high school program that launched in August 2017.
Three Tomball entities—Tomball ISD, HCA Houston Healthcare Tom- ball and Lone Star College-Tomball— are working to launch a Pathways in Technology Early College High School, or P-TECH, in health profes- sions, TISD officials said. According to the Texas Education Agency, a P-TECH is an open-en- rollment high school that allows students least likely to attend college an opportunity to receive both a high
school diploma as well as a credential and/or associate degree at no cost via a work-based education. to be a growing demand for health “There continues
“WITHOUT THIS TYPE OF PROGRAM, MANYOF THESE STUDENTSMAYNOT BE ABLE TOATTEND COLLEGEORATTAINACERTIFICATIONOF THIS TYPE TOWORK IN THEIR PARTICULAR FIELDOF STUDY.” SUSAN HARRIS, DIRECTOR OF NURSING ADMINISTRATION FOR HCA HOUSTON HEALTHCARE TOMBALL
will allow them to compete for open- ings with our indus- try partner, locally, and throughout the state.” Harris said potential certifi-
TISD Dean of Student Advancement Bob Thompson said in a Jan. 13 state- ment TISD submitted its application to the TEA in December to be approved for a year of P-TECH planning. According to the TEA, districts must file a planning year application. If approved, eligible districts spend five years provisionally working to meet the standards set for college and career readiness school models. Nutt said the work-based program will likely begin with about 25 students. “There’s going to be some size con- straints just to make sure everybody gets that work-based experience,” Nutt said.
cation programs include pharmacy technician, operating room scrub technician, patient care assistant, phlebotomy technician and EKG technicians. Students will be intro- duced to various health care fields during their freshman years with clinical hours during their sopho- more, junior and senior years. “Without this type of program, many of these students may not be able to attend college or attain a certification of this type to work in their particular field of study,” Harris said. “Our hope is to be able to hire those students upon graduation.”
care workers across the country and in our community,” Susan Harris, director of nursing administration for HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball, said in an email. “This program helps to promote students’ interest in the health care industry by exposing them to various health care careers when they begin high school.” If approved by the state, TISD offi- cials said the early college high school programwill launch in the 2023-24 school year, and applications are anticipated to open during the 2022-23 school year for ninth-grade students. “[This program caters to] the student who may not see themselves Tomball ISD is planning to launch a Pathways in Technology Early College High School program in health professions. If approved by the state, the program would seek to meet local workforce needs and provide enrolled students work-based education. WORKFORCE READY TOMBALL INNOVATION CENTER. The program would be housed at the
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Tomball ISD filed an application to begin a year of P-TECH planning in
The Texas Workforce Commission projects the number of health care jobs to grow in the Gulf Coast region.
DECEMBER.
The program would be a partnership among:
Job growth from 2018-28:
Tomball ISD Lone Star College- Tomball HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball
Health care support occupations
+26.8%
281.469.7745 CypressChristian.org
2920
Health care practitioners and technical occupations
HUFSMITH- KOHRVILLE RD.
If approved, the P-TECH program will launch in
2022-23. Student applications will open in
+21.2%
K-12 • est. 1978
2023-24.
N
SOURCES: TOMBALL ISD, LONE STAR COLLEGE-TOMBALL, TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION LABOR MARKET INFORMATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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