Google has granted the St. Vrain Valley School District $125,000 to support the Pathways in Technology Early College High School or P-TECH program.
The district will use the grant to help cover the cost of tuition, fees, technology and textbooks for FalconTECH students at Skyline High School. FalconTECH was one of the first P-TECH programs launched in Colorado.
“Across Colorado, we continue to see a strong demand in the job market for individuals with computer science skills,” Colorado House District 2 Representative Joe Neguse said in a release. “That is one of the reasons I’m excited to see all that St. Vrain Valley Schools’ program — the P-TECH Program — will accomplish as they help Colorado students further develop their STEM skills and gain industry experience. This program gives our students a competitive advantage and will help Colorado develop the strongest tech talent in the region.”
Students enrolled in the FalconTECH earn an associate of applied science in computer information systems from Front Range Community College and receive significant mentorship and internship support from industry partner IBM.
“St. Vrain Valley Schools is honored to partner with Google to advance our FalconTECH program, one of Colorado’s most successful industry pipelines for diverse tech talent,” St. Vrain Superintendent Don Haddad said. “Our partnerships with industry leaders such as Google enhance our ability to provide a strong competitive advantage for our students in a highly competitive and globalized world.”
In total, Skyline High School has enrolled over 400 students in the FalconTECH program, with between 50-55 new incoming ninth graders joining each school year. The funds from the grant will support FalconTECH’s current 244 students, the district said.
This is Google’s third investment in St. Vrain and its first in the P-TECH program. Other investments include computer science professional development and support of the Mobile Innovation Lab.
