By Worcester (MA) Mayor Timothy P. Murray and Worcester City Manager Michael V. O’Brien
March 6, 2006

Worcester is the birthplace of trade education, having opened the Boys Trade School in 1908. By the mid 1990s, with a deteriorating building, the city vocational school’s accreditation was threatened. Convinced that relevant and rigorous vocational and technical education can produce outstanding students and citizens, the city began working with community leaders to chart the future of the historic Worcester vocational program. Now, nearly 100 years later, Worcester is again set to open a state of the art technical school that redefines vocational education for the 21st century.

A strong community leader – Edwin B. “Ted” Coghlin, former president of Coghlin Electric Contractors – stepped forward and signed on as the Worcester Technical High School Advisory Board Chairman, spearheading the effort with local officials. Career tracks expanded to include health care and computer based careers, now as much in demand as more traditional vocational offerings. Several important continuing education functions were added to maximize the investment in the new facility after school, at night and on weekends. The theme for the school became “The School That Works.”

The result: a 400,000 square foot high school that, during the day, houses 24 separate disciplines organized into four academies (construction, manufacturing, health and business), each of which holds 300 to 400 students. Tapping into the entrepreneurial spirit of its students and faculty, the school includes a “main street” open to the public with franchises of a major bank, drug store and coffee shop, among others, all of which are fully functional businesses for use and training by students as well. Also open to the public are the culinary arts department’s café, the automotive technology department’s car repair service and the cosmetology department’s salon services.

The building itself is part of the academic program at the new school. During construction, contractor Consigli/O’Connor made sure that the construction trades knew that students in the vocational program for construction would be viewing their work, adding a “personal pride” element to the quality of the structure.

“The school is designed to enhance student learning in both the academic and the hands-on classes,” explains Dick Lamoureux, principal with Lamoureux Pagano Associates, the architect for the facility. “For example, the academic areas are located adjacent to the technical spaces, instead of grouping them separately as has been typical in past designs of vocational and technical schools.”

“While the regular school programs will accommodate approximately 1500 students each day, nearly 3000 students are expected to participate regularly in after school, evening and weekend programs,” explains Tom Ellis of Heery International, the firm hired to oversee the school’s construction. Three different educational missions are scheduled for the late afternoon and evening:

• a new program for students at the local comprehensive high school, parochial schools and preparatory schools that allows them to use the laboratories under supervision and gain exposure to careers in the four different academies;

• a night program for certifications and apprenticeship for specific industries; and

• Central Massachusetts Institute for Workforce Development, which accepts references from employers to train employees in lower paying jobs to gain the skills they need to move into more technical areas.