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Plans taking shape for Spokane Valley Tech
5/30/2012 10:26:02 AM
By Josh Johnson
Splash Staff Writer
Momentum toward transforming a former Spokane Valley retail building into a unique educational campus is continuing and - in some cases - accelerating, the Central Valley School District board of directors learned Tuesday.
Board members were able to check out initial design plans for Spokane Valley Tech at their meeting, where they also learned that a cornerstone course offering planned for the site, aerospace manufacturing, would launch earlier than anticipated with a fall class.
CVSD spokesperson Melanie Rose said a grant that will strengthen the aerospace program required it to be operational for the full school year, so the class will be held in the shop at West Valley High School in the fall until Spokane Valley Tech is ready for students in January 2013.
West Valley and Central Valley are joined by the East Valley and Freeman school districts in a cooperative agreement to operate Spokane Valley Tech, which will serve as a branch campus to the NEWTECH Skills Center in Spokane. Central Valley serves as the host district in the arrangement. CVSD Superintendent Ben Small said the required approval of the cooperative agreement has been received from NEWTECH and the state's Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. CVSD board members added their unanimous approval of the agreement Tuesday.
When operational, Spokane Valley Tech is slated to provide a nearby outlet for high school students to seek training in specialized skills that prepare them for a transition into college or a career, Rose said. The aerospace and advanced manufacturing component at West Valley will initially have room for 20 students and will expand after moving to Spokane Valley Tech in January. At that time, satellite courses offered by NEWTECH in fire science and cosmetology will relocate to the new campus. The first phase of the renovation of the old building will wrap up in September 2013, when biomedical and engineering programs operated through Project Lead The Way move to the campus. Advertisement
Spokane Valley Tech will be located in the former Rite Aid building at the southeast corner of Sprague and University in Spokane Valley. Gary Johnson, a principal with Architects West of Coeur d'Alene, the design firm tabbed for the project, presented a slide show displaying possible floor plans and renderings to the board. Johnson said plans should be ready to go out for construction bids by mid to late July.
Rose said the partner districts are busy getting the word out about the sooner-than-expected availability of the aerospace class. Interested students, including those from home schools or private schools, should contact their school counselor or a local school district office for more information.
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