Public-school programs at all levels prepare students for careers in a surprisingly high-tech industry: agriculture Agriculture continues to play a vibrant role in Connecticut’s economy in the 21st century. And educational institutions in the state, from the primary to graduate-school levels, continue to prepare students for careers in the increasingly technical field of agriculture – as they have since the mid-1800s.

Most notable is the breadth and depth of agricultural curricula offered across the state. A traditional curriculum once mostly concerned with plant and animal sciences has now transformed into subject areas such as biotechnology, aquaculture, agricultural engineering and even turf management and landscaping. Broad-based classroom instruction incorporating cutting-edge technologies, hands-on learning and career decision-making skills is preparing students for the growing agricultural and technology field.

Students have the opportunity to study agriculture through three different school systems, or what the state’s Department of Education calls the “open choice” program. Public charter schools provide a range of small-scale educational programs managed by a governing board of the students’ teachers and caregivers as well as community members. Granted by the State Board of Education, they are public nonsectarian schools organized as nonprofit corporations and operated independently by local or regional board of education to enroll students in grades pre-K to 12. New Haven’s Common Ground Ecology Charter School is a college-preparatory high school with the theme of environmental studies located on a 20-acre site and surrounded by the 1,500-acre West Rock Ridge State Park. The school includes a working demonstration farm and offers projects, research, literature and investigation in natural environment, organic food production and environmental-justice issues that affect local communities. High-performing students complete an advanced environmental honors program and take college classes during junior and senior years.

Connecticut’s technical high schools teach students in grades nine to 12 a specialized technology trade while they earn a high school diploma. The students are prepared to attend two- and four-year colleges or for immediate employment following graduation. Although previously these schools did not offer agricultural curricula, the Ella T. Grasso Southeastern Tech School in Groton has offered a bioscience and environmental-technology major for the past eight years, with courses such as wastewater treatment and environmental assessments that overlap the field of agriculture.

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