INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – Earlier this summer, the School Board of Indian River County approved expansion of the Technical Center for Career & Adult Education. The expansion of the technical center will include relocating to a location currently owned in the School District with a larger amount of property to accommodate the expansion.
The projected opening date for the expanded technical center is Aug. 1, 2018.
“As principal, I am extremely excited about the expansion of the Technical Center,” said Christi Shields. “This project is the result of great teamwork by district personnel and input from the community. This is a win for Indian River County, as it will provide more educational opportunities for everyone and further support the School District’s vision to Educate and inspire every student to be successful.”
The new location for the technical center will be at 4680 28th Court, Vero Beach. This location is currently being shared by the Alternative Center of Education, the technical center, and Indian River State College.
The Alternative Center of Education will relocate to 1426 19th St., Vero Beach, where it will not have to share the facility with adult learners.
The relocation and expansion of the technical center is a tremendous opportunity to expand both secondary and post-secondary career education offerings for high school students and residents of Indian River County.
By relocating the school to a larger campus, new programs for both high school students and adults will be offered, and roughly 800 to 1,000 students will be served. The campus will be centrally located in the county providing ease of access to students at both high schools and all residents.
This will also allow for all career programs to be offered at the same location resulting in administration, teachers, and staff all housed on the same campus. Funding for the relocation and expansion is possible, due to the fund balance of workforce education funds accrued by the Technical Center for Career & Adult Education.
These funds per Florida Statue 1011.80 (7)(a) & (7)(b) are specific to the operation and benefit of workforce education programs.
The center currently has the following programs:
- Medical Assisting
- Medical Coder/Biller
- Certified Nursing Assistant
- Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
- Pharmacy Technician
- Phlebotomy
With the expansion, the following programs will be added:
- Commercial and Culinary Arts – Adult
- Early Childhood Education – Dual Enrollment
- Building Construction Technologies – Dual Enrollment
- Phlebotomy – Dual Enrollment
- Welding Technologies – Dual Enrollment
Dr. Michael Arnett, Director of Career and Technical Education, said that the expansion of the technical center will complement current technical course offerings at Sebastian River High School and Vero Beach High School. Both campuses already have technical programs that will serve as springboards to courses at the center and offer dual enrollment with Indian River State College.
These are the courses currently offered at the high schools:
- Accounting (Vero Beach High School)
- Aeronautical Studies (both high schools)
- Automotive Technology (both high schools)
- Biotechnology (both high schools)
- Business Management (Vero Beach High School)
- Carpentry (Vero Beach High School)
- Culinary Arts (both high schools)
- Certified Nursing Assistant (both high schools)
- Digital Design (both high schools)
- Digital Video (Vero Beach High School)
- Drafting (Vero Beach High School)
- Entrepreneurship (Sebastian River High School)
- Geospatial Information Systems (Sebastian River High School)
- Welding (Sebastian River High School)