The district celebrated the completion of phase one of the Innovation Campus with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 15. The phase-one buildings will house an extension site for MHS beginning in fall 2024, according to a district press release dated Sept. 21.
The campus will accommodate 500 MHS students and is intended to reduce the number of students on the main MHS campus, Innovation Campus Committee member and science teacher Rita Burmanroy said.
The Engineering and Technology (E-Tech) Academy will be among the first MHS students to attend classes at the Innovation Campus, Burmanroy said.
In deciding which MHS students will attend the Innovation Campus, the committee aims “to engage underrepresented students in STEAM courses and careers through hands-on learning experiences,” according to a presentation at the committee’s meeting on April 4, 2023.
Students at the Innovation Campus and at the main campus will both have access to UC and CSU-approved A-G classes, and there will be unique courses at each site, according to the presentation.
“It’s supposed to be ninth or 10th grade (students),” Burmanroy said. “The hope is that the students would stay for the four years at Innovation.”
There will be no prerequisites for admission, and the committee plans to create an inclusive learning environment for English learners and students with disabilities and special needs, according to the April presentation.
“There will be some teachers transferring to that side (the Innovation Campus),” Principal and Chief Innovator Greg Wohlman said. “There may be new teachers hired too; we’re not quite positive, but those are things that will be brought forward as we work with the committee.”
The Innovation Campus Committee was created to plan and give input on integrating students into the campus, Burmanroy said. The committee, which includes teachers and administrators, plans to visit schools with similar programs, she added.
“We’re talking about visiting sites that are similar to what we’re trying to create here—so, innovating sites that would have learning, engineering labs, testing labs, hands-on courses that are directly connected to industry sectors,” Wohlman said.
The first committee meeting of this school year will take place in early October, Wohlman said.
“It’ll be a collaborative conversation about the planning for what’s going to happen at the Innovation Campus—what classes are going to be taught, the timing, perhaps scheduling, and, again, just trying to collect perspective,” Wohlman said. “We’ll have multiple topics on those agendas, and we’ll have student representation and staff representation; hopefully, some community partners will participate too.”
Plans call for the Innovation Campus to “accommodate a wide variety of programming for Milpitas students of all ages. The specific curriculum will include adult education, business entrepreneurship, robotics, biology, virtual reality, AV production, coding, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer science, and virtual design and construction, as well as simulation for legal, financial, manufacturing, and health career training,” the press release said.
Calaveras Hills, Adult Education, and the district office are currently utilizing the phase-one facilities, according to the press release. Cal Hills will move into phase-two facilities in fall 2024, and phase three will focus on integrating early childhood education and workforce development, the press release said.
“There will be spaces where there could be courses and classes that are attended by multiple schools, but the facility will be used throughout the day, most likely beyond Milpitas High School’s time,” Wohlman said.
MUSD received a $1.5 million grant from Assemblymember Alex Lee’s District 24 Office to support local workforce development through the construction of the Innovation Campus, according to an MUSD press release dated Aug. 4.
“This innovative campus, reflective of true partnership with our school district administration, teachers, staff, local businesses, elected officials, and community leaders, will contribute to both career pathway readiness and the City of Milpitas workforce economy for years to come,” School Board President Chris Norwood said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.