New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
“New lab to feature advanced equipment for healthcare industry skills training.
New Bedford High School has been awarded a $500,000 grant as part of the state’s Workforce Skills Cabinet Grant program, the Baker-Polito Administration announced. The high school will utilize the funding to construct a state-of-the-art Health Sciences Laboratory to support its Career Vocational Technical Education (CVTE) programming in healthcare training. To date, the school has been awarded over $1,000,000 in Skills Capital Grants since 2019. Previous awards include $125,000 for the school’s Finance Lab, $275,000 for robotics logistics equipment and $250,000 for marine technology equipment.
Mayor Jon Mitchell lauded New Bedford High’s latest award, noting, “This new lab will provide New Bedford High School students with access to a university caliber science facility equipped like no other high school in the state. It will be a great asset as they prepare for careers in healthcare and the medical field.”
New Bedford Public Schools photo.
Superintendent Thomas Anderson stated, “This illustrates New Bedford Public Schools’ commitment to enhance student-focused improvements that target learning spaces throughout the district. This new facility will help create an environment that will further strengthen our rigorous instruction and inspire students to pursue their educational passions. And it will help prepare our students to compete on a global scale.”
Principal Bernadette Coelho said, “We are thrilled to have received this fourth Skills Capital Grant to support our expanding CVTE program. Our Health Science students have experienced amazing successes, and the advanced equipment in this new lab will support and enhance their continued learning in preparation for exciting careers in the field.”
Skills Capital Grants help high schools, colleges and other educational institutions invest in the most up-to-date training equipment to give their students an advantage when they continue in their chosen field or area of study. New Bedford High School’s Health Sciences Lab, which will include patient simulators and 3-D interactive anatomy tables, will support career pathway development for students interested in medical and healthcare pathways, a career sector identified as a priority area by MassHire Greater New Bedford’s regional labor market blueprint. The high school has offered Health Sciences within its CVTE programming as an academy connected to the National Academy Foundation since 2016.
The planned Health Sciences Lab complements New Bedford High School’s growth and capital project development to foster new career vocational programming and to supplement its existing technical training offerings. In addition to the Skills Capital Grant-funded Finance, Robotics and Marine Science Labs, New Bedford High School recently completed capital projects resulting in the renovation of its television studio, as well as a new advanced manufacturing maker space and upgraded planetarium – the latter two spaces resulting from a joint initiative between the CVTE and Science programs.
“Our new state-of-the-art Health Sciences Lab will be a welcome addition to the career technical and scientific hub of innovation based labs,” said Christopher Cummings, NBHS Career Vocational Technical Education Manager. “NBHS will engage its existing Health Science industry partners and MassHire Greater New Bedford Workforce Board to implement the new lab. It is our goal to leverage these high-tech laboratories into advanced skill training centers to prepare students for occupations in high-demand career growth areas,” he noted.
New Bedford High School offers a broad range of Career Vocational Technical Education programming, which includes state approved Chapter 74 programs in Business Technology and Radio and Television Broadcasting, National Academy Foundation affiliated programs in Health Science, Information Technology, Engineering, Finance, Hospitality, and career training programs in Early Childhood Education, Criminal Justice, and Marine Technology. For more information about Career and Technical Education at New Bedford High School, please contact Christopher Cummings, Manager of CVTE at 508 997 4511, ext. 20799.”
