Polk County Public Schools, Students

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Career Academies

Welcome

Career academies are small, personalized learning communities within a high school that select a subset of students and teachers. Students enter the academy through a voluntary process; they must apply and be accepted with parental knowledge and support.

A career academy involves teachers from different subjects working together as a team.

Staff teams, who often share common planning time, work together to implement the key features of the academy and provide students with training in the career field. Students may be grouped together for several periods every day with a core group of teachers. This promotes a family-like atmosphere and results in close student-teacher ties.

A career academy includes the following essential elements:

By design, these three central elements of a career academy lead to a school that is rigorous and relevant.

Goals

Admision Requirements for All Academy Students

Current Academies

The following is a list of career and professional academies currently planned for Polk high schools.

School: Career Academy:
Auburndale High Medical Academy (medical services field)
Bartow High Medical Academy (medical services field)
Frostproof High Bulldog Construction Academy (building construction)
George Jenkins High Academy of Legal Studies (pre-law, legal assistant, paralegal, real estate) and Medical Academy (medical services)
Haines City High ACES, Academy of Children’s and Educational Studies (childcare and early childhood education)
Kathleen High Criminal Justice, Law and Career Academy (criminal justice, law enforcement and pre-law studies) and Construction Academy (building construction)
Lake Gibson High Polk Academy of Business and Technology (accounting, business administration, Web and digital design), Finance Academy (financial planning) and a Medical Academy medical services)
Lake Region High Imagination, Inc. (marketing, advertising and graphic design)
Lakeland High Academy of Arts, Design and Technology (graphic art and multi-media design)
Mulberry High Automotive Technology (automotive repair and maintenance)
Ridge Community High Engineering Technology Academy (engineering, drafting) and a Medical Academy (medical services)