Henrico schools present 2627 Academic and Career Planning Guide with new courses, CTE expansion and diploma seal

Henrico County Public Schools staff presented the proposed 2627 Academic and Career Planning Guide and answered board questions about new course offerings, career and technical education (CTE) expansion, diploma seals and implementation timelines.

Amy Johnson, Student Director of Student Support and Wellness, opened by framing the guide as aligned with the division’s Journey to 2030 strategic plan and said the work is intended to position students to graduate “enrolled, enlisted, or employed.” Taylor Snow, Director of Secondary Teaching and Learning, and Mac Beaton, Director of Workforce and Career Development, jointly described course additions, pathway updates and implementation steps the board will be asked to approve.

Why this matters: The guide affects course options, graduation pathways and counseling for students in grades 6–12 across the county. Changes include new elective choices at the middle-school level, additional AP and dual-enrollment classes at the high-school level, and expanded recognition of applied learning through a new diploma seal.

Snow said the new-course planning committee reviewed and recommended additions for the 2627 school year, including two middle-school options: “Mind over Math,” an elective enrichment course, and a new interdisciplinary cornerstone elective for grades 6–8. At the high-school level, Snow identified AP Comparative Government, honors sociology, dual-enrollment biomedical engineering and dual-enrollment art history among the additions. She also described a senior capstone experience at the Verena Center for Environmental Studies and Sustainability.

On credentials and credits, Snow said the AP capstone sequence will have greater flexibility next year so students may count AP Seminar for an English 10 credit when eligible, which Snow said will create easier pathways to the AP Capstone diploma.

Beaton described changes tied to career education and work-based learning. “Over the past 5 years, CTE has added 34 new career focused course opportunities,” he said, and staff plan to weight certain advanced career education courses to acknowledge additional out-of-class work such as internships and apprenticeships. Beaton said ACE (Advanced Career Education) Center students often complete documented hours and industry certifications tied to their coursework.

On credentialed access and staffing, Snow told the board the division will offer at least one dual-enrollment course at every high school next year where staffing permits and is exploring asynchronous dual-enrollment options with outside partners (as referenced during the presentation) with HCPS facilitators supervising student progress. She cautioned that expanding dual enrollment depends on having certified teachers and that some dual-enrollment classes (for example, the VCU biomedical engineering course) are highly specific about who can teach them.

Diploma seal and JROTC credit: Snow introduced a new life ready learning diploma seal that allows students to combine community service, externships, job shadowing, student leadership and related activities; completion requires 80 hours plus student reflection tied to the Henrico learner profile. Beaton said HCPS has implemented an approach allowing JROTC to count for half of the health and physical education graduation credit and highlighted outreach to military recruiters and ceremonial recognition for students choosing military pathways. He noted that 34 students last year were celebrated for committing to military service after graduation.

Implementation and communication: Johnson said the division will share guide details with families and schools and confirmed the course-request window will open Jan. 5 and run through Jan. 19, giving students two full weeks (including weekends) to make selections; schools will communicate specific school-level processes and counselors will be available to assist families.

Board questions and clarifications: During Q&A board members pressed for more detail in several areas. Miss Kinsella asked which schools do not offer JROTC; staff identified Godwin, Glen Allen and Freeman and noted students could request a variance to attend the nearest school offering the program. Board members requested clearer documentation in the planning guide on access and variances. Members also discussed the limits of course availability (dependent on certified staff and student interest), the accountability-model point weighting for AP courses, and how level drops and add/drop policies are handled during the school year; staff said level drops have historically been permitted when an appropriate course is available.

Other operational notes: Beaton and staff said business partnerships and shared staffing loans (examples cited include hospital partnerships providing nurses and company-supported instructors for specialized programs) are instrumental for staffing some CTE classes. The presentation cited a rise in duplicated enrollment counts for career programs from about 25,000 in 2020 to nearly 30,000 last year, reflecting expanded offerings and student participation.

Costs and funding: Board members asked about the cost and local funding needs for staff supports and licensure cohorts (for example, the Praxis Bridge program); staff said cost details can be provided but were “not handy” in the meeting and that some initiatives require local funding or state support.

What happens next: Staff presented the guide for board consideration and fielded questions; no formal vote was recorded on the planning guide during this segment. Staff said they will provide clarifications requested by board members (gifted-tag sixth-grade questions, detailed listings of schools offering JROTC, and cost breakdowns for licensure supports) and will continue outreach to families and schools ahead of the course-request window.

Sources and attribution: Quotes and attributions in this story come from Henrico County Public Schools staff and board members during the board presentation and Q&A (presentation and Q&A segments).