There are fewer than 60 maritime schools across the country. Cleveland is about to get a new one.
The Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School will open in July with 100 to 120 ninth graders for the school year, officials announced this week. From there, the school will slowly begin offering other grades.
Christine Fowler-Mack, the chief innovations officer for Cleveland schools, says the public school will train students to become pilots, marine biologists or boat captains, or to go on to higher education.
“It is a school that will teach the core curriculum. But in addition to that, it will offer students knowledge, experiences and internships in the aerospace and maritime fields,” she said.
There are fewer than 60 maritime-focused schools in the country. The Great Lakes region has schools in Buffalo, Toledo and Erie, Pa.
Davis Aerospace and Maritime is a partnership between Cleveland Metropolitan School District, the city department of Port Control, and PHASTAR, a nonprofit aviation company focused on providing public health education.
Fowler-Mack says the school will be similar to other maritime schools, including the Maritime Academy of Toledo which will serve as a mentor.
“We are similar in that we use this lens to really motivate our students to learn.”
This story comes from Great Lakes Today, a collaboration of WBFO Buffalo, ideastream Cleveland, and WXXI Rochester.