Sonoma schools share in $15M pathway grant

The Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) has received a $15 million grant from the California Department of Education to serve as the lead agency for a six-county alliance to create career pathways between North Bay K-12 schools, community colleges, and four-year universities. This grant is one of just 12 awarded statewide at the “up to $15 million” level.

A total of 37 schools will be taking part in the Northern California Career Pathways Alliance spanning Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Solano, Mendocino and Lake counties. SCOE, through the Career Pathways Trust Grant, will work with local higher education institutions and industry partners to provide Sonoma Valley with ongoing support to develop and strengthen its Linked Learning Pathway programs.

Sonoma Valley High School’s Linked Learning Pathways provide students with sequenced and integrated courses aligned with both the Career Technical Education (CTE) and Common Core Standards for California schools. The high school currently has an Engineering Pathway that was started two years ago with through the support of the community and the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation.

Next year, the high school is beginning a second pathway focused on agriculture supported by a $50,000 state grant received this past winter. The Engineering Pathway was listed in the grant as a program that will be used as a model for other districts. Sonoma Valley High School looks forward to continuing to develop and build on our successful Engineering Pathway and serving as a leader in this regional initiative.

School Superintendent Louann Carlomagno said, “For Sonoma Valley, this is the right grant at the right time. While our efforts over the past two years in planning and implementing our first career pathway have been successful, we now have the opportunity to access new resources, new partners and new collaborations in support of expanding our pathway options”.

Through the Northern California Career Pathways Alliance, business and industry partners have been secured for each of our pathway industry sectors. Work-based learning specialists will be placed in each county to create linkages between participating schools and businesses.

The grant will also provide the school district with staff release time for professional development to:

• Develop integrated projects;

• Expand opportunities for staff to work with post-secondary institutions’ faculties and counselors to promote certificate and/or degree programs;

• Encourage and support staff to participate in externships and other professional development to ensure students obtain the education and training necessary for a career in the pathway industry sectors (Engineering and Agriculture), and

• Network with other schools and districts engaged in similar work.

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