Vocational programs are a key component to post-secondary careers for many students, and must be supported by the District. The relative cost of 4 year college has increased by over 100% over the past 30 years https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76, and has become prohibitive for many families.

My personal experience with how the Vocational programs in Merrimack are run is limited so I cannot comment on potential improvements without having more conversations with both members of the community and key stakeholders in the district.

I think vocational programs are an important element in providing our kids with a foundation for success and this goes hand in hand with the previous question. College is not the path for all students- and having a vibrant vocational program provides our kids with another viable path that will give them a strong foundation for success. In addition, I believe the vocational program provides real life skills that our children take with them regardless of the college/ trade/ military/ or entrepreneurial paths. Some of my kid's favorite programs were metal working and wood working- skills they employ to this day even though that is not the career path that they ultimately chose. I think we need to look at the enrollment and cost/ benefit of the programs that we offer the kids- but I believe a good cross section is important. I also believe we should be innovative in our approach and look for ways to partner with local business to provide real life trade experience and on the job training to our kids perhaps in a co-op/ intern type approach. This would be a benefit to our kids and to our business community.

Vocational programs are a critical part of any high school's or school districts success. Education is not "one size fits all." When students reach high school, we need to offer multiple, flexible paths to graduation for students who have different goals and different strengths. Merrimack High School's partnerships with Hudson and Nashua School Districts to offer MHS students Career and Technical programs are an important part of meeting the need of students who have interests and talents for the various industries represented within those programs. These opportunities are CRITICAL options for students who have gifts and abilities that may not shine as readily in a traditional classroom or high school graduation track. Students who might otherwise lose interest in school can be engaged in these Career and Technical programs to explore ways that their talents intersect with multiple careers in various industries. Always expanding these opportunities for students is KEY to improving our graduation rate. These partnerships need to be constantly evaluated, and ways to expand career and technical programs and/or enrollment in those programs should be explored so that any interested Merrimack students have the opportunity to participate.

You can read my answer to question #5 to see where I stand on vocational programs. I support them wholeheartedly and they need to be accessible to all of our students. These programs can show a student a career path they never even considered and can prove to be life changing in the right setting. Being new to our schools I can't pretend to claim I know all of the offerings we currently have but creating relationships with local businesses, trade schools and vocational programs only benefits our students and provides more opportunities. Growing up in Manchester and being able to access the Manchester School of Technology in high school paved the way for so many of my friends to find where their interests lie. I see many of my students utilizing the fantastic opportunities at the Seacoast School of Technology and how much they benefit from them.

I think it is important that the School District helps students excel in whatever their post-graduation job may be. Because many students do not choose career routes involving the need to attend college, providing vocational programs are an essential method to help with career readiness. I believe that the partnerships with the Nashua High Schools and Alvirne High School to provide a career and technical program for the students of Merrimack is a unique opportunity that allows our students to have options for career training that many towns cannot provide. At this time I am not sure how I would improve upon the current vocational programs as I already find the option to collaborate with local technical programs a great asset to the School District, however, I would be very interested to hear from both students and their families that are enrolled in this program to hear how they feel that the offerings are working.

Students should be encouraged to explore vocational programs. Trades on the whole are suffering great shortages of incoming young people who are learning and apprenticing the trade careers. Many students are very talented in these areas and should be encouraged by teachers and guidance counselors to investigate these career fields.

As I mention above, we need to expose our children to these programs. There are many (9 I believe) vocational options in area. We need to make sure our students and parents are aware of what is available and understand what might be missing to help fill the gaps. Our guidance team is key in providing direction for our youth.

This is an area that can be of great value as a college alternative, and we need to ensure Merrimack is providing these options. There are great jobs and careers that our students can have aside from college degrees and we should be offering as many opportunities as possible for them.

In the 21st century, we have many learning pathways for students including nursing, biotechnology, carpentry, medical coding, criminal justice, culinary arts, welding, and HVAC, to name a few. CTE opportunities give students the experience to explore potential careers. I believe that these programs are underutilized because students are concerned about scheduling versus what's best for their learning. I would encourage our school administrators to be more flexible in scheduling required coursework so students have the opportunity to explore possible career paths.

Vocational programs are also an important part of the educational experience and should be supported. All students can benefit from the hands-on learning and real-world skills provided in these programs. As a district, we should be providing these opportunities to students as part of a well-rounded curriculum. If we are unable to in house, then we should be partnering with neighboring Career Tech Programs or local businesses to give students opportunities to explore vocational skills as a potential career path.

Vocational programs are important to those students that want to experience learning through real-life training and study. Completion of these programs/schools provide students with entry-level skills in order to enter the workforce post high school. I do not have enough experience at this time to comment on how these programs could be improved upon within MSD, but would look to partner with current students/families, educators and administration to understand our partnerships with Nashua and Hudson Regional Career & Technical Readiness Programs.