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Waterbury Career Academy touts high FAFSA completion, AP and graduation rates as board praised students
Summary
School officials and students presented program growth and student achievements at the Waterbury Board of Education meeting, citing a 91.7% FAFSA completion rate this year and a reported 98%+ graduation rate for 2024–25; commissioners asked follow-up questions about equipment use and enrollment.
The Waterbury Career Academy presented an overview of student achievement, course enrollments and extracurricular successes at the board meeting.
Mr. Harris, introducing administrators and students, said dual-enrollment and AP participation are rising: "This year, we have 161 students enrolled in ECE courses, 73 students enrolled in MVCC courses, 9 students in post university, and 175 students enrolled in AP courses," he said. He also told the board the school finished first statewide in FAFSA completion last year and is presently first again with a 91.7% completion rate.
The presentation credited weekly MTSS meetings and counselor outreach with lowering chronic absenteeism and keeping students on track for June graduation; Mr. Harris noted a 24/25 graduation rate above 98% and said the school expects to be close to that again this year.
Representatives described career pathways across engineering, manufacturing, IT and health sciences. "Introductory courses are completing an introduction into CAD using Onshape," said Mr. Flemming, who outlined advanced students' work on CNC and milling applications and described partnerships with CT State and MVCC that support early hands-on machine use.
Board members praised the program and asked for follow-ups. Commissioner Van Stone said he was "amazed at the progress" and asked whether students check 3-D prints against their designs; Mr. Harris replied, "they are." Commissioner Orso asked about enrollment in engineering pathways; presenters estimated about 75 students in that area.
The board recognized robotics and music achievements and the district plans to offer the drumline as an elective next year to expand music programming.
The board did not take a formal vote on the presentation. The next step was for commissioners to follow up individually and for staff to provide any data requested about lab usage and course enrollment.
