Atrium Health and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools announced a partnership to launch an early college program at a local high school on Thursday.
A $26.3 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies will support Hawthorne Academy, CMS’s dedicated health sciences magnet program.
The initiative will connect health care and education systems to early college high schools in 10 metropolitan and rural communities across the country, including Charlotte and Durham, N.C.
Why it matters: The Mecklenburg County region is projected to have more than 60,000 open clinical healthcare positions through 2027, according to a press release from Atrium Health.
And the healthcare field needs more diversity. As of 2019, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous Americans are particularly underrepresented in nursing and physician professions, according to the Urban Institute.
“Not a lot of Black women have the opportunity to allow their ideas to flourish,” Karami Albritton, a senior who plans on going into health policy after studying at Hawthorne Academy, said. “I feel like Hawthorne [Academy] allows us to know that we can be in this space.”
Along with a core high school education, Hawthorne Academy students will have specialized healthcare classes co-taught by Carolinas College of Health Sciences employees and work-based learning – in addition to the opportunity to earn industry credentials and certifications.
This initiative aims to create opportunities for students to gain direct work experience and access to jobs within the health system immediately following graduation.
“By providing clear pathways for students’ careers, we strive to retain graduates close to home and grow our next-generation workforce,” Ken Haynes, president of the Southeast Region of Advocate Health, of which Atrium Health is a part, said.
Some healthcare jobs students can train for include certified nursing assistants, registered nurses, and radiologic or neurodiagnostic technologists, among others.
Hawthorne Academy will have an official cohort in the 2025-2026 school year, selected through a lottery process, according to a press release from Atrium Health.
“This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Calvin Jackson, an instructional lead teacher for the health sciences at Hawthrone Academy, said. “We need more minorities to enter the health field.”
Students in the program will start receiving benefits as early as 2024 through paid internships and hands-on experiences.
As a result of the passage of the 2023 CMS bond referendum, Hawthorne Academy is expected to move to a new Second Ward High School in uptown Charlotte, where it will be within walking distance of Atrium Health’s new education center.
The Bloomberg Philanthropies investment will support Hawthorne Academy’s start-up costs, including personnel needs as well as classroom and lab renovations.
Students in ninth and tenth grades will participate in job shadowing and practice their skills in simulation labs. Beginning their junior year, students can access paid healthcare internships, professional mentoring and other work-based learning experiences.
