As the focus in secondary education makes its shift towards career-readiness, the Thomas Edison High School of Technology is ideally positioned to give students numerous paths in which to explore and immerse themselves. Co-located on a 26-acre campus shared with Wheaton High School, Edison is Montgomery County’s central hub for career and technology education, serving students from each of the county’s 24 high schools.
Students are given the opportunity to select from 17 unique pathways offered through four major clusters: Automotive, Construction, Human and Consumer Services, and Information Technology and Computer Science.
The top floor of the school is also home to the Junior Achievement Finance Park – a dynamic space that hosts a half-day personal finance simulation program for every MCPS 7th grader. The Junior Achievement program, and the accompanying tour given by Edison student ambassadors, showcases Edison’s dynamic programs to potential middle school recruits throughout each academic year.
Edison’s diverse programs are organized around a central Showcase space that is the school’s core of student activity, with access to a tiered seating platform, a food service counter, Cafe Edison, as well as projects on display. Student work permeates the school’s circulation paths, with abundant glazing into the labs to highlight the hands-on activity within.
Pathway To Success
Programs include restaurant management, cyber-security, nursing, architecture, graphic design, automotive technology, construction trades and cosmetology – each providing experiential learning opportunities that help students gain hands-on experience in areas that have piqued their interest.
In addition to the new restaurant space, they have designed an open seating area as an outside/inside cafe. This concept was created by [Grimm + Parker] to promote the program and utilize the restaurant in many different ways in the future.
Lead Advisor, Skills USA
Working with the community and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), our planning team developed a feasibility study to consider concepts for the renovation of the previously co-located Wheaton High School and Thomas Edison High School of Technology. The study investigated options for providing two separate buildings on one site or the design of one comprehensive building with separate entrances, identities, and driveways. Both schools were rebuilt on the same site in a complex phased construction over the course of 10 years, resulting in two LEED Silver schools.
Closing Thoughts
Edison provides career readiness through hands-on learning.
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