August 2022 - Superintendent's Update

Back to school
Over 5,300 high school and adult students started the 2022-23 school year at the East Valley Institute of Technology today, including over 1,400 at the EVIT Power Campus, where a $44 million expansion is nearly complete. The Power expansion includes new facilities for aviation, engineering and veterinary programs and renovations for cosmetology and health-care programs. Renovations will begin soon at the Main Campus.

Restructuring EVIT
EVIT is undergoing a restructuring process to prepare for when we begin offering associate degrees in 2023-24. The most noticeable change this year is in the academics department. EVIT no longer has campus principals. Instead, five program directors are overseeing high school and adult career training programs to improve quality and accountability. In the spring, legislation was approved to allow Arizona Career Technical Education Districts (CTEDs) to offer associate degrees in high-demand fields.

Bringing home gold
EVIT students won four gold medals and 11 other medals and placements in national and international competitions this summer to test their skills. At the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) national conference in San Diego, students in the Fashion Design & Merchandising program earned two gold medals: Brenna Gentner in Event Management and the team of Gianna Breinig, Daniela Velasquez and Cara Schafer in Promote & Publicize FCCLA. At the HOSA Future Health Professionals international conference in Nashville, Angelina Palmison won gold in Pharmacy Science (Postsecondary) and Gillian Boggs won gold in Veterinary Science. EVIT’s HOSA chapter was also recognized as the top school in the nation for raising money for the HOSA national service project, Be the Match. Read more: https://bit.ly/3Blxnqo

New partners
We would like to welcome two charter schools to our EVIT CTED family. American Leadership Academy and Heritage Academy have both signed agreements to offer EVIT satellite courses at their campuses. The EVIT CTED already includes high schools in 11 East Valley school districts that offer satellite programs in addition to sending students to EVIT central campuses.

Foster care initiative
In June, Gov. Doug Ducey and the Arizona Legislature approved the 2022-23 budget which includes $10 million for EVIT to build a residence hall on the Main Campus that will serve foster youth. In addition, EVIT has entered into a partnership with Heritage Academy to open a charter high school on our Main Campus in the 2023-24 school year that will give preferential placement to foster youth. This will help provide foster youth with more stability, consistency and opportunities as they transition out of the foster system and into adulthood. In addition to enrolling in EVIT’s adult career training programs, they will receive social, emotional and mental health support services and learn life skills such as financial planning and nutrition.

Thank you for your support in helping EVIT change lives.