The Innovation Campus will only be enrolling freshman and sophomore for the 2024-2025 school year due to low enrollment numbers from upperclassmen, Principal and Chief Innovator of Milpitas High School and New Campus Programs Greg Wohlman said. This will result in a total 83 students enrolled for the extension campus next year, Wohlman said.
“We had a very low number of seniors and juniors that enrolled, so we focused on just ninth and 10th graders, which was a very, very hard decision to make,” Wohlman said. “But when you only have three students from one class and 15 or less from another, it makes it very difficult to schedule and to staff.”
Among the students at the Innovation Campus will be about 20 current freshmen who will be joining the Engineering and Technology Academy (E-tech), which will be fully migrating to the extension, said counselor Valerie Lamb, who works with academy students.
“I did see a lot of discussion, especially the incoming 12th graders for next school year, not wanting to go to the new campus because they have already been in the main campus,” Lamb said. “I know they established a lot of friends here. They did not want to get pulled for that.”
E-tech Academy Lead Mimi Nguyen, engineering teacher Paul Okoye, and Lamb will all be moving to the Innovation Campus, along with 11 other staff members, Wohlman said.
Although the E-tech Academy will move to the Innovation Campus, it will still be taught at MHS for the upperclassmen who are not moving to the new extension, Lamb said.
“The next school year, we will have Mr. Okoye teach period one and two for the incoming 11th and the incoming 12th graders, then he will drive over to the Innovation Campus to teach those students,” Lamb said.
The counselor that is moving over to the Innovation Campus will also help with other schools in the district, and MHS will be getting a new counselor, Wohlman said.
“Most of our movement of teachers will not be filled, and we’re going to do what we can to schedule classes to balance our classes here without overloading classes,” Wohlman said.
Aside from counseling services, MUSD is also looking to integrate special education into the Innovation Campus in the near future, Wohlman said.
“We have to make sure that we can serve all the needs of all of our students, so that’s something that’s being analyzed right now,” Wohlman said.
A core aspect of the Innovation Campus is the college-level courses that will be offered on campus, Wohlman said.
“We’ve stayed true to the model of having college coursework available on the Innovation Campus itself, along with creating partnerships and pathways and advanced manufacturing engineering,” Wohlman said.
Industry partnerships and certification-earning programs, such as nursing, are also currently in discussion, Jordan said.
“We’re trying to ensure that learners can really maximize their time in school,” Jordan said. “They will have even more opportunities than they have now to advance to whatever career they are interested in or obtaining degrees through higher education.”
Physical Education (PE) at the Innovation Campus will be taught by PE teacher James Sampson, who will be teaching at both the main MHS campus and extension, Wohlman said.
“They will be using the Milpitas Sports Center for their fields and the gymnasium when we need it during the day,” Wohlman said.
Extracurricular sports, however, will still take place at MHS and will be open to Innovation Campus students, Wohlman said.
“Transportation will be available for those students that are in after-school clubs or after-school sports. We’ll be giving them a ride over here to the main campus,” Wohlman said. “So if you had a sport like basketball or something going on after school, or if you had a club organization that meets every day after school, you’ll have a ride to join those activities.”
Aside from the high school extension part of the Innovation Campus, an early childhood education research center will be constructed as a part of Phase III of the project, Jordan said.
“We’re eventually going to partner with another community college or possibly San Jose State to provide career pathways in education,” Jordan said. “The early childhood education research center will operate as a living lab with real kids, which can help people earn certification to work in such career areas.”
The district is still in the process of partnering with outside organizations or companies such as Flex, an electronics manufacturer, and CalHOPE, a mental wellness resource center, to provide students with opportunities outside of campus, Jordan said.
“In all aspects of the MUSD Innovation Campus, we’re trying to offer education opportunities to both child learners and adult learners,” Jordan said. “It’s all coming to fruition, and it’s very exciting.”
Ultimately, the goal of the Innovation Campus’ new high school extension is to provide another alternative to students within the MUSD district, Wohlman said. “Some students just want to go to a smaller high school,” Wohlman said. “The people in Milpitas should be happy with the educational choice to go to four different campuses.”