Frequently Asked Questions

There is no application or lottery for the NHS Career Academies. All students are welcome to enroll and participate. Instead, an enrollment form and parent/guardian signature are required.

A link to the enrollment form will be provided to all 8th-grade students in May 2022.

"Declaring" yourself as an Academy student means that you are committed to meeting the graduation requirements of the Academy.

You will be asked to declare yourself as an Academy student in March of your 10th-grade year.

Once you have declared yourself as an Academy student, your counselor will be notified and at the beginning of your 11th-grade year, the Career Academy Counselor will become your counselor.

Academy courses are open to all NHS students as long as prerequisite courses are met.

Prerequisite courses are courses you must take before you are eligible for another. For example, you must take "Introduction to Business" before you are eligible to take "Entrepreneurship."

Most students choose to focus on 1 Academy in order to make sure that they meet the necessary requirements. Once you are registered for the Academy, you will have access to all events.

If a student wishes to become a member of more than 1 Academy, they should speak with the Career Academy Counselor about their options.

The number of courses a student can take per year will vary based on the student's course schedule, and there is no official limit. Some Academy courses are 0.5 credits (semester) and some are 1 credit (full year).

This will vary by Academy because some Academy courses are taught by other departments.

No preference for course enrollment is given to Academy students. However, your school counselor will work with you to make sure all academic requirements are met.

As an Academy student, you are expected to participate in a variety of events, including Lunch & Learns, Employer Panels, Field Trips, Job Shadows, and more.

Please click here for more information.

As an Academy student, you will have:

• Direct connections to professionals working in many fields

• Greater access to hands-on, real-world experiences in your field of interest

• A community of peers with similar career interests

In order to leave the Academy, you must inform the Career Academy Counselor, who may reach out to your parents/guardians for confirmation.

If you have not yet "declared" yourself as an Academy student (see above), you will remain with your current school counselor. If you have already "declared" yourself as an Academy student, you may or may not return to your original counselor's caseload. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis.