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Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS)

Inspiring students to do meaningful work is the goal of Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS). Supporting five suburban high schools in Kansas City, MO, Blue Valley CAPS is a career center that allows students to be immersed in professions-based learning. Students are able to transfer their core academic knowledge to industry problems while working with mentors and using industry standard tools. Born out of a need to connect students to meaningful work, what started as one site has now blossomed into an international CAPS Network of more than 60 school districts. Utilizing an ecosystem approach, Blue Valley CAPS understands how to bring education, business, and community together to create a new way of learning. The CAPS approach creates a pipeline for today’s careers and the ones of the future.

School Type

Part-time/Program

School Context

Multi-District Partnership

Dimensions

  • Outcomes: Development of the education to employment pipeline
  • Learner Experience: Professions-based learning
  • Competency & Credentialing: Professionalism-based assessments; Course/industry strand credentials
  • Wellness: Teachers as guides and coaches; Focus on professional skills; Wellness projects
  • Equity: Open for all model; Personalized learning; Connection to social networks
  • Professional Learning: Industry experiences; Professional learning; Adaptive leadership training
  • Strategy: Professional culture; Scale to in-school model
  • Partnerships: Industry partners; Mentoring; Advisory; Postsecondary; CAPS Network
  • Technology: Basecamp; Canvas; Zoom

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These resources have been vetted by the project’s partner organizations. While this list highlights a diverse set of models, we know there are more innovative models around the nation. We’d love to hear about yours!

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Jennifer Storm, Executive Director, Friends of Texas Public Schools

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Dr. David Harris, President of the Texas Alliance of Black School Educators