This website has been designed to assist students and parents in the selection of courses that are taken off-campus, at the Career Center, as an extension of the home high school. The Career Center School is located at 3230 Burt Street, in the west wing of the Teacher Administrative Center.  Students receive transportation from their home school to the Career Center for all programs except for Zoo Partnership and UNMC High School Alliance.

The Career Center provides ALL Omaha Public Schools 10th through 12th grade students access to 11 high-quality career pathways not available elsewhere. This is an invaluable opportunity to provide a glimpse into a career without the hefty price tag of college, earn industry credentials, experience workplace learning, engage employers, and have FUN learning by doing! 

What is Career Ready?

Attendance
Omaha Public Schools district has a district-wide Strive for 95" initiative.  This initiative supports and ecnourages student to have a 95% attendance rate.  A student meets the 95% attendance rate by having no more than 9 unexcused absences for the entire year.  Reseach shows students who attend regularly have more success than peers who do not and are better prepared for postsecondary success.  Student Attendance at the Career Center is the key to learning and applying new skills.  The goal is for each student to be in class every day, on time.  The responsibility for attendance is shared by the students, parent, teacher, and other school staff. Make-up work and time missed for home high school activities are expected to be completed prior to the end of the semester. ie athletic events, class meetings, school pictures, pep-rallies, and other such activities.

Career Pathway Completor
Career Center students are pathway completors once they complete a two-year, four course sequence of classes at Career Center. The pathway sequence provides students with the technical employability skills in that career field.  The pathway completor designation also meets the Nebraska Department of Education's definition of a career and technical education student concentrator.  This indictaor is an important accountability piece for the federal Carl D. Perkins grant which supports career education. 

Work-Based Learning - Internships
One of the greatest opportunities the Career Center provides is access to workplace learning opportunities.  Work-based learning (WBL) connects student learners with employers to prepare them for success in the workplace.  Benefits include strengthening academic, technical and career readiness skills, exploring career options, enhance personal finance knowledge, fosters postive relatoinships with adults, and develops awareness of the requirements of careers so students can effectively plan career pursuits.  WBL opportunities include apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, paid internships, or clinicals.  Students have a a chance at a unique Senior Year Only Program (SYOP) learning opportunity or capstone at Career Center. Its not the traditional "early out" but rather a structured pipeline into a chose career field with local business partners. These invaluable connections with local industry create an actual real-world experience that you can earn an income, high school credits, and even land a job.

Industry Credential / Certification
Most all pathways at Career Center provide students access to earn industry certifications.  Opportunities to earn industry certeifications are embedded as a part of the curriculum and provide students a path to obtain documented job skills.  Industry certifications can be local, independent, or nationally-recognized credentials awarded by business or associations.  These credentials demonstrate evidence of workers' competencies, thereby supporting hiring practices and filling specific employer-demanded konowledge, skills, and abilities.  These connect skills sets to workforce demand and help address the skills gap while increasing an individual's earning potential.

Dual Credit Career Pathway Course
Dual credit career pathway courses (aka dual enrollment or concurrent enrollment) offer students the opportunity to earn high school credits and college credits at the same time which ease the transition to postsecondary.  Research indicates students are more likely to persist to a second year of college and successfully earn a postsecondary degree when they successfully pass a dual credit course.  Interested in getting a jumpstart on college? Well, at the Career Center you can! A lot of our programs offer college credit at local community colleges and universities at a minimal cost. This allows you to forgo having to take this class in college as well as saving lots of money!

CTSO - Co-Curricular Activity (Skills USA)
SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry representatives working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA helps each student to excel. SkillsUSA is a national organization serving teachers and high school and college students who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled and service occupations, including health occupations and for further education. SkillsUSA was formerly known as VICA (the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America).