JCPS credits Academies of Louisville program with improving student outcomes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools is crediting its Academies of Louisville program with improving student outcomes.

The program allows students to graduate with college credits, industry certification and real-world work experience.

This past school year, some Jeffersontown High School students worked with the city's Chamber of Commerce, helping them recreate the map it uses for the annual Gaslight Festival. It's an experience that gave students real life, hands-on experience with skills they've learned in the classroom.

"It took a bit of trial and error to get it," said Joseph McCoy.

With projects in hand, McCoy is part of the Academies of Louisville program at Jeffersontown High School.

"I started it because I liked hands-on and designing things," he said.

The rising junior is part of the Build and Design Academy that used computer-aided design skills to rebuild the map.

"We went over with the rough draft of the map I had and we walked J'town to make sure everything (was) where it was," said McCoy.

While McCoy still has a few years before graduating from high school, he said this experience will definitely influence his future.

"I don't know what exactly in computer-aided design it would be, but it would have something along the lines to do with it," he said.

The skills of McCoy and his classmates stood out to the city's Chamber of Commerce.

"It gives me confidence we're in good hands when they go out and start their careers," said Deana Karem, Jeffersontown Chamber of Commerce president.

JCPS celebrated Academy and local business partnerships, like the one with Jeffersontown High School and the Chamber of Commerce, during a celebration Wednesday night.

"The more opportunity they have outside of the classroom to bridge learning in the classroom, the more inspired those students will be," said Joseph Ellison, assistant superintendent of high schools with JCPS.

The district offers dozens of academy tracks at 15 JCPS high schools, from health care, law and IT, to STEM and media arts.

Since the inception of the Academies program in 2017, JCPS said the district has seen a 55% increase in post-secondary readiness. Jeffersontown High School alone bumped readiness from 55% to 92% since its first year.

"Graduation rates are the highest they've ever been since the inception of the Academies of Louisville and our dropouts are the lowest they've ever been as well," Ellison said.

Recent Wagnner High School graduate, Saif Al Khafaji credits his involvement with Academies of Louisville preparing him as a first-generation college student.

Al Khafaji is originally from Iraq, but moved to Turkey to seek refugee in America.

He graduated from IT and Law Academies of Louisville program at Waggner this month.

"I was given educational credits for my freshman and sophomore years which I did in an Iraqi private highs school located in Samsun, Turkey," Al Khafaji said. "I was also given all opportunities throughout my junior and senior years at Wagner High School such as dual credit classes. ... I am well prepared to start as a first-generation college freshman at Eastern Kentucky University this fall as an aviation major."