The Gilmer College and Career Academy is ramping up for its grand opening this fall.
The Gilmer County School System made the announcement in a Feb. 10 press release. The GCCA was originally part of the system’s 2017 charter agreement, but its development hit a snag when COVID-19 arrived in spring of 2020.
The GCCA will be housed at the Larry Walker Education Center and will encompass career, technical and agricultural education (CTAE), as well as dual enrollment and work-based learning programs.
“The purpose of the GCCA will be to promote increased participation in these programs, as well as to develop community partnerships that result in more robust work experiences for students and a more targeted labor pipeline for local business and industry,” the release stated.
CTAE program’s include agriculture, business, audio, video and film, automotive, construction, culinary arts, public safety and early-childhood education.
Gilmer High principal Carla Foley will serve as the GCCA’s chief operating officer, and Young Farmer Advisor Mike Bushey will act as agriculture liaison. The GCCA is a separate entity within the school system and will work side by side Gilmer High programs.
“The GCCA works with the high school in that our CTAE courses that we currently offer are a part of the GCCA, so it will still be GHS kids coming to the GCCA to take those CTAE electives,” Foley explained.
While these programs are all currently offered to GHS students, the establishment of the GCCA expands the programs’ offerings by incorporating a local technical college. Foley said they hope to partner with Chattahoochee Technical College and that their professors will teach GCCA classes.
“It will provide opportunities for our students to get certifications and some associate degrees through that technical college,” Foley said. “They can do that now through dual enrollment, but it’s a more seamless process with the GCCA.”
Foley noted the GCCA is still in the early stages of development. They hope to meet with Chattahoochee Tech representatives “in the near future” to solidify their partnership.
The GCCA is also in the process of forming its governing board and steering committee, which will be made up of local industry professionals who currently sit on CTAE advisory boards.
The GCCA will also feature a Newcomer’s Academy. It will cater to non-English speakers who are new to the country in grades 6-12.
“Through our partnership with a technical college, and our governing board and community members, what we’re doing through the GCCA is a perfect match,” Foley said.
‘We want to meet whatever those job needs are for our community. We’re getting kids ready for needs we may not even know we have yet. We want the community to see us as the go-to place for that workforce.”