The Rochester community is interested in establishing a military academy, according to a new report.
A set of recommendations was recently released by a committee made up of representatives from the Rochester City School District, the military community, and various stakeholders from churches, colleges, and community groups. They interviewed parents and students, as well as other community members, in series of interviews and surveys for the feasibility study.
Van White is president of the Rochester City School Board. He says the idea behind the study was inspired by a maritime academy he visited in Buffalo that impressed him.
"Our job is to service the families and students of this community and, quite frankly, we have not done a great job of that in the past, and one of the ways we thought that we could improve is to solicit other ideas."
White says their partnership with the University of Rochester to establish East High School also opened the district up to the possibility of partnering with different organizations.
Todd Baxter of the Veterans Outreach Center was co-chair of the committee. He says a military academy could be attractive to parents and students for a variety of reasons.
"It just gives the kids one more option, gives the school one more option, gives the parents one more option to look at."
Baxter says military academies also offer structure, character building, and great citizenship skills.
He says the committee recommended a curriculum that focused heavily on engineering, math, and robotics to give the school's graduates a path to schools like RIT and the University of Rochester if they don't want to join the military.
The report recommends a coeducational military academy operating within RCSD, but that would draw students from across the county as well. The school board has to vote on whether or not to move on this idea, and White says they have a lot of details to work out if they do.
