The mission of the Regional Career and Professional Academies is to promote educational change through a businessdriven collaboration which results in highly skilled high school graduates. The goals are to link business trends and targeted industry growth to Regional Career and Professional Academies’ program growth, engage business in partnerships that prepare young people for future careers through a combination of school based curricula and work-backed experiences, and to develop and use partnership agreements. The Regional Career and Professional Academies program in Northeast Florida is run as a joint project with many key partners and is made up of the Regional Career and Professional Academies Board, the Standards and Training Council (STC) of which the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership is a member, and Industry Advisory Councils.

WorkSource, the regional chambers, county school systems, industry representatives, and post-secondary institutions convene a Regional Career and Professional Academies Board. The goal of this committee is to ensure accountability from all parties for the program’s success. Their activities include:

The Schultz Center for Teacher and Leadership hosts the Northeast Florida Career and Professional Standards and Training Council meetings. The purpose of this group is to provide a venue for collegial conversations in the support of Regional Career and Professional Academies. The Council is comprised of representatives from Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam, and St. Johns public schools, Schultz Center, Florida Community College Jacksonville, Lake City Community College, Jacksonville University, St. Johns River Community College, University of North Florida, Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, WorkSource, and business representatives. The Schultz Center also provides support for regional academy personnel and industry representatives. This support includes training on the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Career Academy Manual which serves as a guide for schools developing career academy programs, National Career Academy Coalition Training for Career Academy Reviews in Florida, and an academy data collection project.

Industry-specific Advisory Councils provide leadership and facilitate the design and implementation of Regional Career and Professional Academies within that particular industry. In so doing, they serve the Northeast Florida region by incorporating best practices, assuring sustainability, and gaining business and school system commitment to the resources needed to succeed.

For more information regarding Regional Career and Professional Academies contact: