District's CTE leader previews Hope Gas partnership to launch training program; AP and NOCTE gains reported
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Summary
The district's CTE lead presented AP testing and CTE indicator results and described a fast-moving partnership with Hope Gas to create a two-year CTE completer program ("Hope Academy") that would send juniors to a corporate training center; initial pilot is proposed at Robert C Byrd High School.
Miss Knight, the district CTE presenter, provided the board with packaged materials on NAEP testing (state-level trends), AP exam participation (619 AP exams administered countywide last spring, with 448 exams scored 3 or higher), and detailed CTE performance indicators used for funding.
She said the district has built a new pretest bank for NOCTE/NOCTI preparation and reported strong recent indicator scores (99/100 in 2022-23; 88 in 2023-24; 96 most recently). Miss Knight said teacher endorsements have improved (examples: 67 of 69 teachers correctly endorsed in the latest count) and that work-based learning participation has increased, which supports both funding and employer connections.
On a new partnership, Miss Knight said district staff met with Hope Gas and curriculum development is "about three-quarters" complete. The proposal, described as a two-year CTE completer program, would have students travel to a Hope Gas training facility in Morgantown one day a week beginning in the program's first junior year. Miss Knight said the district will seek state CTE approval; if the state does not grant completer status, the board could approve it locally.
Board members asked about scaling and staffing; Miss Knight said the district will start the pilot at Robert C Byrd High School and expand if logistics (transportation and scheduling) allow. The presentation emphasized connecting CTE coursework to local labor-market needs and increasing career awareness earlier in middle school to build future completers.
Next steps described in the meeting: finalize curriculum with Hope Gas, seek CTE state approval or local board approval as needed, and return with implementation details including transportation and student-selection criteria.