001Welcome to Arlington Tech, Governor STEM Academy. Arlington Tech is about empowering students to explore STEM pathways through rigorous college coursework and authentic learning opportunities. Arlington Tech has been a full-time high school program for Arlington public school students since 2016. As with comprehensive high schools, students take science, math, English, social studies, and world languages while also taking innovative electives not available at other schools. Next year, we will be located in the brand new Grace Hopper Center, opening in the fall of 2026. To attend Arlington Tech, students must apply between November and January. I've had a really great experience at Arlington Tech. So, I came in 9th grade, and I was really drawn to it because it's a very STEMbased school. For example, in 9th grade, we're required to do engineering in our first year. >> I
002want them to have a top level goal of being the architects for the future. A lot of students are finding that, oh wow, this is the first time that algebra has actually been applied to something as opposed to just being theoretical. You need to use the algebra in order to get the circuit. And then the circuit is then breadboarded and tested and then can be used as if it were a consumer product. >> That's probably the thing I love most about this school is that we get to work on projects not to keep us busy, but that can actually have an impact in the community. Project-based learning is important because it just gets the students out of the classroom and it's real. And it's one of those things. This is not just for a class
003assignment. It's for something that's actually out there in the real world. What made me come to Arlington Tech was I really wanted to get hands-on in television production cuz I knew I wanted to do that since middle school. So, learning that Arlington Tech had access to a television and multime media production class, I instantly knew I wanted to come here. We have access to classes that teach you about anything and everything. So, if you really have that one target in mind that you want to pursue, I'd say come to Arlington Tech and take the class. >> I would say try a bunch of different CTE classes and see what you might like, what you might want to stay away from. When you get to your junior year, most of the classes you'll be taking are
004dual enrollment, which means that they're college level classes. >> Many of our students actually end up graduating with an associates degree, which is a two-year college degree, and others also graduate with a one-year um general education certificate. So, I personally am going to be getting my associates of general science. I feel so much more prepared to go out into college in the real world because I've taken these college classes in high school. So, I teach DE biology. It is the base level biology class that gets students into upper level biology, but they can take it anywhere. They can take it to chemistry, engineering. It is specifically meant to be uh challenging because it has to apply to every major. It's just great being able to have, you know, the the educational experience here, but then
005those capstone experiences so students can intern and get those real life um experiences and skills. There's many different types of capstones and all of them are each equally valuable. You can get an educational one where you work with a teacher around the school, a work-based one where you can uh potentially get paid. I get paid at my capstone. They really help with building up experience at a very lowrisk environment. my capstone. I have uh four of the greatest mentors I've ever had. They give us access to industry grade equipment. Arlington Tech has prepared me immensely for my career. Um you know, I now know how to use all the equipment they actually use in the industry. Uh they gave us access to that stuff really early on. You know, my first year of T production,
006I was already getting my hands on a camera, learning how to use it. >> Our community is so amazing. We're here not just with Arlington Tech. We have all programs here coming from across the district and a place where learning is the most exciting thing ever. We encourage you to explore all option programs available to high school students in APS. Arlington Tech students are ready to jump into STEM focused pathways, explore project-based learning, enroll in college classes, and apply their content knowledge to authentic experiences while taking all their classes at the GraceHopper Center. See you next year. [Music]