Summary of Progress
Waiākea High School is a wall-to-wall academy school and has made the academy model its main focus for continuous school improvement.
In the past few years, all five of the academies at Waiākea have been reviewed and certified by the National Career Academy Coalition with the following results:
Freshman Academy - Model Academy with Distinction through April, 2026.
Academy of Industry and Technology - Model Academy through 2024-25.
Arts and Communication Academy - Certified Academy through 2024-25.
Health Services Academy - Model Academy through April, 2026.
Public Services Academy - Model Academy through April 2026.
The National Career Academy Coalition has 10 National Standards of Practice and Waiākea strives to use these to refine the effectiveness of its wall-to-wall academy model. The NSOPs are:
NSOP 1 Mission and Goals.
The career academy has a written mission, goals, and benchmarks. These are developed, reviewed, available, and known by the administrators, teachers, students, parents, advisory board, and others involved in the academy. These include at least the following elements: connect postsecondary education and career; raise and maintain student aspirations; increase student achievement; show a commitment to equity.
NSOP 2 Academy Design.
An academy has a well-defined structure within the high school, reflecting its status as a small learning community.
NSOP 3 Host Community and High School.
Career academies exist in a variety of district and high school contexts, which are important determinants of an academy’s success.
NSOP 4 Faculty and Staff.
Appropriate staff selection, leadership, credentialing, and cooperation are critical to an academy’s success.
NSOP 5 Professional Development and Continuous Learning.
Since an academy places teachers and other adults into roles not normally included in their previous training, providing adequate professional development time, leadership, and support is critical.
NSOP 6 Governance and Leadership.
The academy has a governing structure that incorporates the views of all stakeholders and the leaders of the advisory board.
NSOP 7 Teaching and Learning.
The teaching and learning within an academy meet or exceed external standards and postsecondary entrance requirements while differing from a comprehensive high school by focusing learning around a career theme.
NSOP 8 Employer, Postsecondary Education, and Community Involvement.
A career academy links high school to its host community and involves members of the employer, postsecondary education, and civic community in certain aspects of its operation.
NSOP 9 Student Assessment.
Improvements in student performance are central to an academy’s mission. It is important to gather data that reflect whether students are showing improvement and to report these accurately and fairly to maintain the academy’s integrity.
NSOP 10 Sustainability.
No new academy functions perfectly. Even well established and highly functioning academies benefit from self-examination and refinement. Ensuring and improving the quality of a career academy requires engaging in a regular cycle of improvement.
Waiākea’s Academic Plan for 2023-24 is framed around these 10 NSOPs.
