The Central Educational Center, a charter school that has been in the planning stages for over two years, is now becoming an exciting reality.

Central Educational Center is a unique effort that is a collaborative between the Coweta County School System, local business and industry, and Carroll Technical Institute.

Based on a comprehensive needs assessment of the business and service community, the mission for the center is to develop, implement and offer innovative learning opportunities to ensure a viable work force for the 21st century.

Designed to be a state of the art technical facility, Central Educational Center will provide technical training for high school students seeking technology/career and college prep diplomas, post-secondary education, and specialized training for business and industry. Specifically, the center will fulfill the following purposes:

F Provide specific job skills and work-ethic training for students as identified by local business and industry to meet workforce demands in the community.

F Provide students a seamless transition from high school to post-secondary technical training, associate or four-year college degree programs, or directly into the world of work.

F Involve industry professionals and expert craftsmen in training students through classroom instruction, trade advisory committees, advisement/mentoring, and actual work experiences such as job shadowing, co-op and apprenticeship programs.

F Provide customized business and industry training programs for local business and industry to allow employees to develop or up-grade skills.

F Increase the literacy rate among the general population by providing a night high school and GED programs.

Scheduled to open with some of the planned programs in the fall of 2000, the center will focus its curriculum on four career paths: business, marketing and information systems; health and medical; human services, and technology and engineering.

In addition, all students will be required to communicate effectively, use math, the arts and computers to define, analyze and solve complex problems, and acquire appropriate work ethics as a part of the Central Educational Center experience.

The Georgia Board of Education approved the CEC charter, and Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes has given the Central Educational Center his stamp of approval.

Gov. Barnes sees the CEC as a model for his concept of providing students with a seamless transition from high school to vocational-technical school, college, or the world of work.

As a matter of fact, one of Gov. Barnes' education reform committees is called the “Seamless Committee.”

Strong business partnerships, the seamless links between secondary and post-secondary programs, and the existing high technology community will enhance the development of a technically trained workforce to meet the demands of the 21st century through the Central Education Center.

This effort is another vivid example of how we are all working together in our community to make Coweta County schools a great investment.

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