Syracuse STEAM high school aims to provide workforce preparation
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Construction is set to begin this fall on the new STEAM high school in downtown Syracuse after the Syracuse City Common Council voted on Oct. 16 to approve street closures for the project.
The school, which the Syracuse City School District is branding as the first of its kind in the region, aims to prepare its students for the workforce through career and technical education in STEM and the arts. It will be located in the former Central High School building on the corner of South Warren Street and East Adams Street in downtown Syracuse.
Jody Manning, the planning principal and executive director of planning for the school, said the school will focus on providing access for the local community and become a primary hub in providing employment opportunities for students.
“We have proposed concentrations that will be integrated so students will get a well-rounded education in those particular areas,” Manning said. “You’ll have a lot of opportunities, but once you go through a certain concentration, you are ready to go into an entry-level or above an entry-level job.”
The concentrations — both majors and minors — will include fields like business entrepreneurship, construction management, data intelligence, entertainment engineering and semiconductor manufacturing technology, according to the SCSD website.
Manning will not act as the school’s principal once enrollment begins in fall 2025; a principal for the school is expected to be named in early 2024 after the conclusion of a nationwide search, Manning said.
Manning said he hopes the STEAM School will serve a vital role in becoming part of an “economic engine” in central New York.
Mayor Ben Walsh first announced plans for the school project in 2019. Now, the construction comes as Syracuse and the broader CNY area prepare for economic opportunities through companies like Micron Technology, which announced it is investing up to $100 billion for a new semiconductor facility in Clay.
Upcoming projects like the Interstate 81 community grid and Micron’s incoming facility are seen as potential avenues for graduates of the STEAM high school. Companies like Micron and Amazon have each provided funding to the school, Manning said.
Bruno Primerano, director of career and technical education for SCSD, said he hopes the school will mitigate the number of economically disadvantaged Syracuse families in the long term.
“We feel like this is an avenue to break those horrible things that have happened to our families for generations here in Syracuse and give our students and families the opportunity access, not just to jobs, but breaking down the barriers needed to get into high wage careers, and to get into higher education,” Primerano said.
The school will have 1,000 seats for students at full capacity, 600 of which are reserved for Syracuse high schoolers and 400 for students from nearby suburban communities, Manning said. The school will admit 250 freshmen in its first year of enrollment and plans to add another cohort annually.
SCSD worked with CenterState CEO, a local business leadership and economic development organization that provided the district with a needs assessment of the region.
CenterState CEO identified a need to invest in business entrepreneurship and construction management curricula, Manning said. The company said having more workers overseeing projects was the most glaring need for local businesses.
“We’ve engaged (with) a significant amount of our members — folks within the business community — with the school district, with the city, with the county, to begin to identify what the needs of our employers are, and why it might make sense for us to invest as a region in a STEAM high school,” said Robert Simpson, the president of CenterState CEO.
After graduating from the STEAM high school, some students will have already qualified for credits at neighboring universities like Syracuse University, SUNY ESF and SUNY Oswego, Manning said. Graduates could enroll at traditional universities for two- or four-year programs, he added, while some could have offers for part- or full-time jobs in construction.
Manning said the application process for middle school students will center on demonstrated interest in a particular field, rather than solely on grades and test scores. Applicants will need to submit letters of recommendation and meet with a subject matter expert to show their interest, as well as submit attendance and behavior issue history, he said.
Construction on the school’s exterior and roof will continue up until this winter before shifting to designing the building’s interior, Manning said.
As the Syracuse community prepares for an influx of new job opportunities, Primerano said the school will give SCSD a chance to “strike while the iron is hot.”
“We try in education to change things as much as we can, but I think right now is the time to change the ideal nature of education from the standard way that we’ve been doing pre-K (through) 12,” Primerano said.
