TCHS Brandywine to host Grand Opening Celebration

Downingtown, PA – There is a new high school on the block, and Chester County parents and students are invited to explore its hallways during

the Grand Opening Celebration and Open House on Saturday, September 22. From 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Chester County Technical College High School (TCHS) Brandywine Campus will open its doors to the local community and offer student- and staff-led tours of the state-of-the-art facility that replaced the Center for Arts & Technology (CAT) Brandywine Campus in Coatesville.

“Our students will now receive the best career and technical education in the best facility,” said Principal Seth Schram. “Not only are the students enjoying an up-to-date facility and a phenomenal learning environment, but also teacher morale and feedback has been wonderful. Watching our fantastic staff teach in a new facility that emulates industry standards is a treat.”

High school students are not the only learners present in the classrooms of this unique campus located at 443 Boot Road in Downingtown. In fact, the range spans from preschool to adult students. At one end of the building, aspiring Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) prepare to enter the nursing profession through the adult Practical Nursing program while at the opposite end, the Head Start program prepares economically disadvantaged preschool students to successfully enter kindergarten. Meanwhile, the graphic artists, chefs and animal technicians of tomorrow are thriving in new classrooms specific to their high school career and technical program.

“Technical College High School Brandywine Campus is a multi-generational learning environment that addresses the instructional needs of each of the groups within the campus,” said Dr. Alan Slobojan, Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) director of career and technical education. “It provides students with a state-of-the-art learning facility in their technical programs of interest and has allowed the intermediate unit to bring together a number of other instructional programs, including Practical Nursing, on the same campus.”

In 2008, the Chester County Technical College High School in West Grove became Pennsylvania’s first hybrid career and technical high school/community college. The school features three distinct yet interrelated educational programs: traditional high school career and technical programs, traditional college courses through Delaware County Community College (DCCC), and new dual-enrollment classes that blend high school and for-credit college courses. In an effort to provide students in central Chester County with the same educational benefits of a Technical College High School as their counterparts in West Grove, the Chester County School Authority purchased the buildings located behind the CCIU Educational Service Center in Downingtown as the site of the new Chester County Technical College High School Brandywine Campus.

Although TCHS Brandywine students have filled the hallways and classrooms since the first day of school on August 27, the Grand Opening Celebration and Open House is an opportunity to share this success with the local community.

“This new school is an outstanding opportunity for all students,” said Principal Schram. “Our students have the opportunity to learn a skill set in a particular field, while often earning college credits as high school students. They will enjoy the best facility, the best staff and the most current curriculum in almost 20 fields of study.”

By attending TCHS Brandywine, he added, these students are already several steps ahead of their peers when it comes to career preparation. The new campus has also enabled CCIU to expand its partnership with DCCC and other post-secondary institutions.

“You can sense the excitement from each teacher and student,” said Principal Schram, and that is exactly what TCHS Brandywine hopes to share with the local community at the Grand Opening Celebration and Open House on September 22.

TCHS Brandywine provides traditional career and technical training to more than 500 high school students. In keeping with the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s focus on high-priority occupations for workforce development, the following career programs will be offered to secondary students:

Allied Health Science Technology
Animal Science & Technology
Automotive Collision Technology
Automotive Service Technology
Banking and Financial Services
Barbering
Biomedical Science
Carpentry
Commercial & Graphic Arts
Computer Information Systems
Cosmetology
Criminal Justice and Police Sciences
Culinary Arts
Early Childhood Care & Education
Electrical Occupations
Electronic Systems Technology
Engineering Technology Systems (Mechatronics)
Engine Technology & Recreational Vehicles
Health Career Academy
Health Information Management
Health Occupations
HVAC/Refrigeration Technology
Teacher Academy

For more information on the Technical College High School (TCHS) Brandywine Campus, please click here. For more information on the Practical Nursing program, please click here.