CAREER & TECHNICAL

With a history stretching back to the 1930s, Aviation has adapted and expanded along with the industry. Its intense FAA-sponsored program, the nation’s largest, helps students earn industry certifications in aircraft repair and maintenance, leading some into well-paid jobs right out of high school. Yet an average 82% of graduating seniors head to college. The Sunnyside school offers a range of AP classes, including calculus, English and world history. Students devote serious time to their craft: By junior year, they spend four periods a day in shop classes, known as “labs.” That prepares them for internships with airlines and at John F. Kennedy International Airport and for entry into a competitive, optional fifth-year program that lets students work on a donated Boeing 747 in the school’s dedicated annex at JFK.

Perched on the edge of the East River in a striking new building, this Long Island City school is a movie studio in miniature, with everything from props and costume departments to sound stages and an editing lab on site. Students take a sequence of introductory production classes in their first two years, then choose an area of concentration in 11th grade. New York’s thriving film industry provides many internship opportunities for juniors and seniors (Silvercup Studios, WNET and shows like “The Good Wife” among them). The school itself, with an in-house video production company, gets kids collaborating with partners like the National Dance Institute and Socrates Sculpture Park on several film projects each year. Strong academic supports result in an impressive graduation rate, and with most students heading to college.

This new school in Melrose section focuses on sustainable building practices, offering smaller-than-average classes and a skills-based approach to learning. Features like a rooftop garden, which allows for hands-on study of solar energy, reinforce the theme. So does the federal grant won in 2014 that MTA is using to implement a new transit-careers program. With 13 applicants per seat, BxDCA’s architecture and design track is highly sought-after. Architecture students train first in mechanical drafting and later in AutoCAD. On the building construction and design track, students can choose to major in HVAC, plumbing, carpentry or electrical specialties. Many earn certifications that help them head into construction and design jobs after graduation.

Students are encouraged to jump in and do practical problem-solving at this handson Williamsbridge school. With an emphasis on computer repair and programming, professional certifications can be earned in a student’s first year. The curriculum follows a logical sequence, training students in Internet and computing, then in computer repair and finally in networking before placing them in 15-houra-week internship assignments in senior year. The year-by-year reinforcement likely plays a part in the school’s strong 85 percent graduation rate. While the world of tech is the focus here, out-of-school activities, like freshman camping trips and senior movie days, help students build teamwork and shared purpose. Teachers strive to enhance students’ knowledge on a larger scale as well: In 2014, some classes used the Globalize 13 curriculum to raise awareness about slavery in the modern world and to brainstorm solutions to the problem.

This long-established career and technical school in Jamaica Hills offers an extensive array of tracks in seven main subject areas: visual arts, information technology, computer-assisted design, electrical installation, automotive tech, robotics and medical careers. “We are the true definition of ‘college and career readiness,’ ” says Principal Moses A. Ojeda. “We offer dual-enrollment for career and technical education courses, College Now courses and Advanced Placement courses in every core subject.” The wellequipped work areas and shop facilities are constantly expanding. Last year, Edison won a $50,000 makeover grant from the Collision Repair Foundation and also installed a state-ofthe-art auto-spray paint booth, the only one in any city school. A $20,000 grant from Lowe’s stores is building a garden for a botany program that will teach agriculture and food management. A newly renovated lab hosts a computer forensics pro-