Technical Academies of Minnesota

We at Technical Academies of Minnesota are very excited to share with you some great news that will have a tremendous positive impact on youth, employment and the profitability of business in the very near future! In February 2013, the Minnesota Department of Education approved Innovative Quality Schools' affidavit to Technical Academies of Minnesota allowing them to open four charter schools in southern Minnesota over the next five years. The schools will have a career and technical skill focus to better prepare students for the future through projects, internships, and dual credit opportunities. Willmar was recently selected as one of the first sites because of the strong and progressive business, community, and educational opportunities it has to offer. Willmar’s steady growth in population, technical, and professional jobs makes Willmar an ideal location for the school. Owatonna was also selected as one of the first sites to open in the Fall of 2014.

Technical Academies of Minnesota could potentially address our future pipeline of workers and the retention of our youth. The schools will provide an opportunity for students to get a jump-start on their technical skills while identifying career pathways in industry sectors critical to south central Minnesota. Important skills such as critical thinking, interpersonal skills, problem solving skills, skill gap issues, employment needs that save businesses thousands of dollars in training and hiring costs in the near future once businesses are able to refer your current and future employers to this academy in the coming years! The schools will address skills in occupations such as; welding, information technology, transportation, sales, financial, and agriculture. We will collaborate with multiple organizations and companies in order to strengthen southern Minnesota youth, communities and business.

The heart of the innovation at Technical Academies of Minnesota will be the personalized nature of the school and the focus on Project Based Learning. Through technology and an interest-based learning plan, students will be advised and engaged throughout each day in ways that defy typical school learning. Students become self-directed in the development of a series of projects that meet state standards in a highly personalized way based upon their interests and career choices. As students develop their projects, they can access specific college courses, online courses or technical internships that align with their projects and will help them acquire skills required for success in the work force. Student's time is organized individually, and may include independent work, small group work, or work outside of the building in community service or a work-based internship, mentorship or apprenticeship.

Technical Academies of Minnesota Founding Story

In the spring of 2012, regional business and community leaders met to discuss the “skills gap” and how the lack of prepared entry-level workers effects the economy in south central Minnesota. Leaders shared their own experiences and recent studies. One of those studies was a 2011 Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) report that looked specifically at regional manufacturing employment needs. DEED called for the evaluation and enhancement of education-business partnerships that would provide opportunities and relationships between schools and businesses. Other recent studies show that Healthcare and Ag-Science industries share the workforce shortage now described as a “skills gap” issue.

The leaders discussed how business could support needed changes in public education. By looking at the skills required to be successful and mapping backwards to what changes would be needed, a whole new idea for a work readiness school developed. Leaders envisioned a high technology, technical-skill-focused, poly-engineering environment that looks to the future needs of society as a basis for curriculum. A strong curricula component would emphasize information finding and soft skills needed for success after high school.

A vision of individualized learning that would be supported by business internships and dual credit options with area community colleges was created. With the belief that by offering skilled real-life training, students will better understand the possibilities ahead of them an idea was founded - Technical Academies of Minnesota. Public charter high schools that focus on technical skills in a project based experiential learning environment.

In the weeks after those early meetings an interim school board formed to move their vision to reality. The first step was to gather the knowledge base needed to create a school. Leaders decided that a charter school would be the fastest way to implement their vision. The board invited nationally renowned and locally based education expert Doug Thomas, executive director of EdVisions Schools to assist with planning, development and implementation.

EdVisons Schools founded and developed the Henderson MN based Minnesota New Country School (MNCS). The MNCS educational community has been serving Minnesota River Valley residents since 1994. MNCS is highly recognized as one of the nation’s most successful chartered high schools. The school was named one of the nation’s top eight charter schools in 2006 and in 2010 was recognized by Ladies Home Journal as one of the top ten most amazing schools in the US. An independent longitudinal study conducted in 2008 by Hamline University found that 91% of MNCS alumni have gone on to post-secondary schools with 69% graduating on time and 21% still in school. Impressive, as the school serves nearly 40% special education students. As stated in a recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Public Policy as Propelled by Real People: “ACT scores for last year’s graduates of New Country School were higher than state and national averages. All the graduates had plans for continuing their education. Seventy percent of the new jobs that will be created in Minnesota will require some post-high-school education. New Country School students will be ready for that future.”

Utilizing the successful methods of MNCS, EdVisions worked with Technical Academies of Minnesota to create and submit a proposal to Innovative Quality Schools of Minnesota (IQS), a state approved, charter school authorizer. IQS leadership embraced the idea of bringing project based technical-skill-focused secondary school education to south central Minnesota in collaboration with the business community. IQS submitted an affidavit to the Minnesota Department of Education requesting a charter to open first two, and ultimately four charter schools in the region.

Technical Academies of Minnesota is on track to open two schools in the Fall of 2014, and two more in the fall of 2015 or 2016. Other areas considered for school locations are in Waldorf, Jackson and in Rochester or the new Pine Island community.