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Valley Career and Technical Center seeks more capacity as applicants outnumber slots
Summary
At the April 14 meeting, Julie Maxwell, principal of the Valley Career and Technical Center, told the Waynesboro School Board that program expansion and employer partnerships have driven demand; she said more than 675 applicants sought roughly 550 slots for the incoming class.
Julie Maxwell, principal of the Valley Career and Technical Center, told the Waynesboro School Board on April 14 that the center is expanding programs and that demand outpaces available seats.
"For this year's incoming class, we had over 675 applicants for only 550 spots," Maxwell said, listing new and growing programs including firefighting, industrial maintenance technology and aviation maintenance technology. She said the center is increasing enrollment where space and Department of Education class-size rules allow and thanked local employers for work‑based learning and apprenticeship opportunities.
Maxwell told the board the center will recognize more than 400 students who are completers of certificate programs at a May 9 ceremony at JMU’s Atlantic Union Bank Center. She also noted that students from the center competed at state and national contests in areas such as aviation maintenance and SkillsUSA.
A CTE teacher (speaker 2) described the division’s immersive early‑childhood and parenting class that brings high‑school students into preschool settings three days a week to build leadership skills and connections to future careers. Two students, Caitlin (speaker 9) and Paige Woodson (speaker 11), spoke about how the class influenced their interest in teaching and leadership.
Board members and staff noted the program’s value and said they will continue to coordinate on capacity, staffing and space constraints as the center grows.
