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City and county officials, alongside Syracuse City School District leaders, hosted a “fireside chat” Monday evening to provide the latest updates to the proposed STEAM high school ahead of its fall 2025 opening.

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh joined Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and SCSD Superintendent Anthony Davis at the OneGroup Center for the discussion. The three covered the logistics of the school, including its proposed curriculum to school admissions plan.

The high school — set to open in fall 2025 — will feature a STEM and arts-focused curriculum and is open to students from SCSD and the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services component districts, according to the school’s website. It was originally announced in 2019 and construction began in October 2023.

“The first time we had a conversation about this concept, that conversation was amazing just to hear the possibilities that we were talking about, and making an entire regional opportunity for kids,” Davis said.

The three panelists discussed how the school was founded before opening the floor to participant questions from attendees in-person and on Zoom.

Walsh, one of three panelists, answered questions regarding the school’s founding purpose and what it hopes to achieve. Inspiration for its founding stemmed from the success of SCSD’s Career and Technical Education Programs, which helps students build technical, academic and professional leadership skills for college and career success.

The school will feature 15 different concentrations made up of various majors and minors relating to each subcategory in STEAM, according to the website. Each student will pick a major and minor when they apply.

One of the majors will focus on semiconductor microchip technology, its website states. Walsh said that Micron Technology, which plans to build a semiconductor facility 10 minutes from Syracuse, was a significant investor in the school’s development.

“They saw an opportunity to build upon that success (and) do it in a way that supports the economic growth that we’ve been promoting, and do it in a way that begins to break down some of those barriers between the city school district and suburban districts,” Walsh said.

The school will replace and adjust its curriculum depending on how “marketable” its majors are, and will not be designed to force kids to choose their careers early, Walsh said. An infographic handed out at the event stated that the STEAM school promises workforce credentials that students can build on either in college or in the industry of their choice.

Jody Manning, the executive director and planning principal for the STEAM project, said the school’s admission process will be accessible to students throughout the city. Its inaugural class will consist of approximately 150 SCSD students, making up 60% of the group. The other 40% will be from throughout the county, Manning said.

“The admission process is set up so there’s no barriers, it’s really (based on) interest,” Manning said. “We want kids in the school who are interested in being there and want to pursue some of the opportunities that are there.”

Davis said that the first 250 students will be all ninth graders as part of a “phase-in” system. The school will continue to add groups of students over its first four years as they move through the curriculum, he said. It also plans to have sports teams and host community events once it becomes more established.

Applications for its inaugural class will open on Dec. 15 and close on Jan. 13, Manning said.

“What’s special is what’s behind the scenes,” Davis said. “If we can set our kids up now, they will have very, very bright futures. We’re proud that this is a Syracuse City School District school, and what it brings to this region is going to be something special.”

Published on October 8, 2024 at 12:48 am

Contact Henry: hdaley@syr.edu