SAISD to open cybersecurity early college high school

1st Pathways in Technology program in Bexar to roll out on East Side with 150 ninth-graders

A year after the state Legislature created Pathways in Technology early college high schools in Texas, the San Antonio Independent School District is opening the first one in Bexar County, giving students the opportunity to earn associate’s degrees, industry certifications and on-the-job experience in cybersecurity.

Cyber P-TECH will open in August at Sam Houston High School on the East Side. The inaugural class will have 150 ninth-graders, said Mateen Diop, principal of Sam Houston.

“We don’t just want them to graduate with a degree,” said Johnny Vahalik, who directs college and career readiness for the school district, at a Monday news conference. “We want them to graduate with soft marketable skills that they need to be successful in the IT world.”

SAISD Superintendent Pedro Martinez served on the committee that helped write last year’s law adopting P-TECH, a national model that combines early college programs with technical courses. Along with degrees and certificates in specialized fields, students are to complete internships and apprenticeships and find professional mentors as early as the ninth grade. Local companies and colleges partner with the schools and help design the curriculum.

‘Changing the narrative’

Last year’s bond issue funded renovations at Sam Houston, and Cyber P-TECH students could have their own hallway with their own set of teachers, Diop said. The school-within-a-school will be open to students throughout Bexar County, but East Side students will get first priority in a lottery system, followed by others within SAISD, Martinez said.

It will build on the success of Sam Houston, which has rebounded in the decade since failing academic ratings and shrinking enrollment threatened to close it, Martinez said. Last year’s top 10 graduates all went to elite colleges and universities, including Wellesley, Notre Dame and Texas A&M.

The East Side has become a hotbed of charter school competition. Martinez said Sam Houston and other SAISD schools are answering it with offerings such as the Young Men’s Leadership Academy and Davis Middle School’s science, technology, engineering and math program.

“Our schools here on the East Side are outperforming the charter schools on the East Side,” Martinez said.

But the area remains impoverished and historically underserved.

“We’re changing the narrative,” said District 2 Councilman William “Cruz” Shaw. “It’s about exposing our young ones to opportunities that could benefit their families, their children and their grandchildren. Hopefully they’ll stay right here in the community to contribute to that legacy.”

The federal and state governments each gave $25,000 to plan Cyber P-TECH, Vahalik said. SAISD could replicate the school’s model to train students in other high-demand industries the state and Workforce Solutions Alamo have identified, such as health, manufacturing and engineering, he said.

San Antonio has the nation’s second-largest cybersecurity industry after Washington, D.C., officials have said — but local employers often can’t find enough hometown job candidates with the required skills and have to bring them in from elsewhere.

“For our children, especially here on the East Side, I want them to be able to see themselves in those jobs,” Martinez said.

‘Critical to defense’

P-TECH is similar to the CAST network of career-themed high schools H-E-B started, but CAST schools are not early college programs. Their goal is to get students halfway to associate’s degrees, and their areas of focus are broader, Martinez said.

CAST Tech, the first school in the network, is in SAISD on the Fox Tech High School campus. In addition to cybersecurity, its curriculum includes computer science and entrepreneurship. But Fox Tech has become a collection of magnet programs with reduced access to sports and extracurricular activities. Cyber P-TECH students, by contrast, can play on Sam Houston’s football team or march in its prestigious band.

Cyber P-TECH students will earn “information technology cybersecurity specialist” associate’s degrees from St. Philip’s College, preparing them to design and secure computer networks. They will likely take some of their dualcredit courses on the St. Philip’s campus to expose them to a college environment, Martinez said.

Accenture Federal Services will lead the team of local companies that help oversee the program.

“Cybersecurity’s going to be so critical to the defense of our nation,” said Benjamin Peavy, Accenture’s managing director here. “This is exactly the type of community partnership we value most.”

If Cyber P-TECH students decide the job isn’t for them, they’ll have been exposed to math and technology that apply to any career, Martinez said.

The school will begin accepting applications Nov. 26. The first open house will be held the following day at 5 p.m. in the Sam Houston cafeteria.