NCCTC will start classes Monday with 220 students
COAL TOWNSHIP - A total of 220 will begin school Monday at Northumberland County Career and Technology Center (NCCTC), which continues to make a transition from a three-year program to a one-year, senior-only, full-day curriculum that will take effect in the 2012-2013 school year.
The projected enrollment includes 142 students from Shamokin Area School District, 34 from Mount Carmel Area and 44 from Line Mountain.
Robert Beierschmitt, principal at Northumberland County Career and Technology Center (NCCTC), said no new programs or curriculum changes have been implemented for the 2010-2011 school year. Although the school continually upgrades equipment to keep up with changes in the various trade professions, Beierschmitt said no major equipment purchases were made over the summer.
He said the school will employ two new instructors.
Jeremy Johnson was hired to succeed longtime auto body teacher Ray Moncavage, who retired. Beierschmitt said the school's operating agency plans to hire a new protective services instructor Monday to replace Jim Catino, who has accepted a position as assistant principal at Lancaster County Career and Technology Center. Catino had served as protective services instructor since the program was initiated at the Coal Township vocational school.
Administrators at NCCTC are confident the senior-only program will best serve the needs of students.
During a previous interview, Alexander Choman, administrative director at NCCTC, said, "We are all working hard to make our school as attractive as possible for students. The one-year program emphasizes concentration and continuity, and we believe that will be accomplished best by having the students here all day, year-round."
The decision to change to a one-year program was approved by the school's operating agency in October 2009 and announced in March. SUN Area Vocational-Technical School in New Berlin and Lancaster County Career and Technology Center are the only schools in the state to operate with that structure, and Choman said NCCTC will model its program after SUN Area.
Officials at NCCTC, which offers 12 areas of study, said they made the change to stay competitive and allow students to concentrate in their particular skill area uninterrupted from the time they arrive at the career center until the closing bell. Sharing time with a home school and transportation time interrupts the school day and adversely affects the efficiency of training. Also, students will be able to garner the 720 required hours for state reimbursements, Choman said.
The change will be fully implemented in the 2012-13 school year. The two-year transition will allow this past school year's sophomores and juniors to complete their schooling under the half-day, three-year structure they began as sophomores.
Mount Carmel Area, Line Mountain and Shamokin Area have been the "sending" school districts for NCCTC since it opened in 1972, and help fund its operation.
The center offers courses in automotive technology, carpentry, collision repair technology, communications electronics technology, computer technology, cosmetology, culinary arts, electrical construction, health occupation careers, occupational child care, protective services and welding.
The school plans to add heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and drafting/computer-aided drafting (CAD) courses for the 2011-2012 school year.
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