Students find new programs and facilities for 2018-2019 on 5 MCVTS campuses

Students find new programs and facilities for 2018-2019 on 5 MCVTS campuses

More than 2,000 students have returned to classes on the five campuses of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools to find innovative new programs and facilities.

The district, the oldest county vocational school district in the nation, offers more than 40 career majors ranging from agriscience to welding, as well as specialized academies for math, science and engineering technologies, and health and biomedical sciences.

Among the new facilities are a renovated science lab on the Piscataway Campus, part of a three-year modernization program, and new maker spaces on the East Brunswick and Piscataway campuses.

“A maker space gives students access to supplies and activities that allow them to create solutions to problems,” Superintendent of Schools Dianne D. Veilleux said.

The Perth Amboy Campus has begun block scheduling, which allows for extended class time in career-major as well as academic classes.

Veilleux said a music teacher has been hired for the Piscataway Campus for the first time to offer classes and extracurricular opportunities as part of an arts-integration initiative.

“He’s going to be working with teachers to integrate music across the curriculum,” the superintendent said.

There also will be an artist-in-residence on the Piscataway Campus to specialize in spoken-word communication, including poetry, with an emphasis on social-justice topics, Veilleux said.

The staffs of the Academy for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies in Edison and the Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences in Woodbridge will cooperate in a professional development program aimed at developing innovative ways to challenge gifted students.

“We want to see how we can challenge students who are really smart, take them to the next level,” Veilleux said.

9/11/18