City gets state funding to open a construction-focused P-TECH

New York City will receive a slice of $28 million in state aid over the next seven years to open a seventh P-TECH, or Pathways in Technology Early College High School, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced Wednesday.

The funding will help start a new six-year high school that will offer training in construction management, civil engineering, and architectural technology, officials said Wednesday. State officials could not provide a specific amount for what the newest P-TECH school in the city will receive, but said the typical grant from the state averages $2.8 million over seven years.

The school, slated to open next fall, will partner with Building Trades Employers’ Association of New York City, which represents contractors and construction management firms, CH2M Hill, a global construction management, architecture and engineering firm, CUNY, and the New York City College of Technology, or City Tech.

Students at P-TECH high schools receive career and vocational training and can earn a high school diploma and an associates degree for free over six years.

The Department of Education partnered with IBM, CUNY, and City Tech in 2011 to launch the first P-TECH high school school in Brooklyn. Since then, five more P-TECH schools have opened in the city and the model has been replicated across the state and country. The first school earned a visit from President Barack Obama in 2013.

The Building and Trades Employers’ Association already partners with 14 city schools, but the just-announced school will be the city’s first six-year school with a construction focus. The current P-TECH schools offer training and college credit in fields like computer information systems, health sciences, and advertising.

An earlier version of this story said students would study agriculture in the program, not architecture. The story also didn’t mention that CH2M Hill is a partner in the program.