Atherton High School

Composite ACT Score: 22.1 Proficient in Reading: 28% Distinguished in Reading: 35% Proficient in Math: 28% Distinguished in Math: 29%.

KDE School Report Card

The Academies of Louisville provide meaningful contexts for learning chosen by students according to their potential career interests and passions. Freshmen learn about the different academies throughout their first year at Atherton in preparation for their selection of courses as upperclassmen. Students choose a strategic sequence of electives that will provide pathways to exploring high-interest careers, including Media Arts, Health Science, and Engineering.

The academies experience will be multifold for the Atherton student. In the classroom, teachers will situate learning within relevant learning contexts according to the selected academies pathway in English, math, science and social studies. Students will also take a sequence of four elective courses that direct them through a pathway leading to a credential or certification in that area of study. The academies experience will include guest speakers who specialize in these career fields as well as field experience where students actually see what these careers entail. As JCPS and Atherton develop ongoing business partnerships, students will have more choices to engage in internships and job opportunities that provide them with career-related experience in that field to make them knowledgeable and competitive.

The Media Arts Program aligns course content with current industry practice in various forms of media arts and the new National Coalition for Core Arts Standards for the Media Arts. These standards describe the necessary occupational, academic, and employability skills needed to enter the workforce or post-secondary education in specific career areas. The strength of these business partnerships insures that curriculum meets industry specifications. Cooperative experience, internships, shadowing and mentoring opportunities will provide depth and breadth of learning in the instructional program and allow students to directly apply concepts learned in the classroom.

The Health Science Program provides the secondary student with orientation, exploration, and preparation into the health care industry. Currently, Kentucky joins a nationwide shortage of health care workers. At a time when many industries are downsizing, the health care industry is one of the largest industries in the country with more than 14 million jobs.

The Engineering Program includes the practical application of science and engineering and exposes students to a wide range of real world problems. The U.S. has approximately 1.6 million engineering jobs that pay $42 per hour in median wages. Civil engineers account for the most jobs of any engineering field (274,000 in 2014), followed closely by mechanical engineers (264,000) and industrial engineers (229,000). Those three engineering jobs, plus electrical engineers and electronics engineers, make up two-thirds of the American engineering workforce.

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