This fall, the Innovation Magnet School — the sixth public high school in Middlesex County’s Magnet School District — will welcome its first cohort of students.
Conceived as part of the County’s Community, Innovation, and Opportunity (CIO) Strategic Investment Plan and announced just four short years ago, the more than 75,000 square-foot Innovation Magnet School is further proof of Middlesex County’s belief in the power of education and its commitment to serving the students and families who live here.
Middlesex County has long been recognized as an active supporter of new and creative educational opportunities. In 1914, Middlesex County opened the first county vocational school system in the United States, opening up educational and career pathways for high school, adult, and disabled learners.
Since then, the County has continued to invest in education in multiple ways, including by:
- Creating Infrastructure that Supports Learning. Located on the Middlesex College campus, the new Innovation Magnet School offers more than 75,000 square feet of learning space specifically designed to facilitate and enhance the exploration of the cutting-edge academic programs students will study there. Programs that will foster students’ critical thinking skills and help them develop the future-forward skillsets necessary to meet the challenges ahead.
- Expanding Curriculum Options. Students enrolled in any of the County’s six Magnet Schools can choose from well-respected, high-caliber programs in everything from auto repair and cosmetology to the performing arts to the biomedical sciences and engineering — and more. At the Innovation Magnet School, students will have the opportunity to study Sustainable Construction and Environmental Technology; Sustainable Energy Technology; Logistics, Robotics, and Drone Technology; Information, Communications, and Cyber Security Technology; and Biotechnology and Plant Science. These programs are ones not readily offered in every public high school in New Jersey or across the nation.
- Establishing Educational Partnerships to Provide Hands-On Learning. Through our strong relationships with leaders in the private sector, Middlesex County has launched educational partnerships that provide Magnet School and Middlesex College students opportunities to gain hands-on experience in real-life work settings. These educational partnerships — including both our RWJ Barnabas Health Workforce Partnership and our workforce partnership between Hackensack Meridian Health, Middlesex College, and the County’s George J. Otlowski, Sr. Center for Mental Health Care — give Middlesex County students a crucial advantage over others entering the healthcare industry.
So WHY is Middlesex County devoting so much time, energy, and funding to education? Simple: because we know that a high-quality education is the key to a successful life and to a robust and resilient economy. Through our investments in innovative education, we are making a positive impact on individual students, while also making a positive impact on their families and the entire community, now and for well into the future.
Chanelle Scott McCullum is a Commissioner for Middlesex County and Chair of the Economic Development Committee
