Antelope Valley School District

Public Service Academy

Community and Industry Partners

Students in the academy benefit from partnerships that have been forged with professionals in the Emergency Medical Services, Fire Services, and Law Enforcement fields in many ways. Our curriculum is overseen by an advisory board, guest speakers volunteer hundreds of hours a year to speak in our classroom, mentors meet with our 11th graders throughout the year, and local offices bring our 12th graders on as interns in the spring. These are just a few of the ways our students interact with professionals working in careers they aspire to.

PSA Group

 

Field Trips

Public Service Academy students will go on many different field trips throughout the year which are designed to inform and expose them regarding the careers they are interested in, reinforce what they are learning in the classroom, and provide them with information as they consider what they will do after graduation from High School. We have taken students to a variety of locations in the efforts to promote personal and professional development, such as, universities, state and junior colleges, graduate schools, prisons, fire stations, hospitals, sheriff stations, museums, and many others.

Highland High School's Public Service Academy is a California Partnership Academy with an emphasis on career readiness and small learning communities. We implement many different strategies and programs in order to develop responsible and ethical citizens by setting high standards for academic scholarship, integrity, service, and leadership. Three key elements defining an academy students experience include:

Learning Center

 

Small Learning Communities

The 10th and 11th graders in the Public Service Academy are grouped into cohorts by grade level into no less than three classes with other Public Service Academy students. This allows their teachers to tailor projects and instruction to students with interest in fields of medicine, fire, and law enforcement. It also affords us the opportunity to complete cross curricular projects in which students attempt to provide solutions to real and current social problems.

PSA field trip

 

 

ACADEMY STAFF

Christy Chacon:  Academy Coordinator, Emergency Medical Technician, Public Service Leadership
Sean Lyons: Intro to Public Safety, Fire Science   
Emily Reinsch: English 11 AP
Maggie Mendez:  English 10 Honors
John Johnson: U.S./AP History
Justin Wyatt: Forensics/Criminal Justice
Steven Harrington: Chemistry/Chemistry Honors
Roxanne Sachs: AP Literature
Sandra Gordon: World History
Tim DeVestern: World History AP
Jonathan Baker-Ortiz: Government
Jody Finks: Anatomy, Physiology, Intro to Principles of Biomedical Science & Engineering
Mina Chang English 11