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FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2024

Inside E.P. High – a cathedral to CTE

By Scott Pickering

Posted 4/19/23

East Providence High School is one of the clear leaders in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming in the state of Rhode Island. The spectacular new facility, which was built for $189.5 …

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Inside E.P. High – a cathedral to CTE

Robert Hanlon, director of the East Providence Career and Technical Center, talks about the robot patients in the Nursing room. On this particular day, the students were away on a field trip to the Boston Museum of Science, but on a normal day, they will practice monitoring, tending to and taking vitals for their patients, which talk to the students and tell them how they’re feeling. The senior Nursing students will graduate with CNA certifications at the end of this school year.

Robert Hanlon, director of the East Providence Career and Technical Center, talks about the robot patients in the Nursing room. On this particular day, the students were away on a field trip to the Boston Museum of Science, but on a normal day, they will practice monitoring, tending to and taking vitals for their patients, which talk to the students and tell them how they’re feeling. The senior Nursing students will graduate with CNA certifications at the end of this school year.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Abigail Leddy (left) and Nolan Travassos collaborate on an assignment in the Engineering room. In the course of their four years, engineering students will dabble in a lot of different disciplines, from mechanical to civil, robotics to architecture, chemical to environmental engineering. Many will leave the school with professional-level certifications, like AutoCAD, one of the dominant engineering softwares in the world.

Abigail Leddy (left) and Nolan Travassos collaborate on an assignment in the Engineering room. In the course of their four years, engineering students will dabble in a lot of different disciplines, from mechanical to civil, robotics to architecture, chemical to environmental engineering. Many will leave the school with professional-level certifications, like AutoCAD, one of the dominant engineering softwares in the world.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Ian Harrison works on an electrical panel inside the Electrical CTE space, which includes a center classroom and two adjoining rooms loaded with wood and steel framing, wires, panels and lots and lots of tools. Students from the Construction program do the framing, and the electrical students practice wiring, both residential and commercial grade. They will leave the program with OSHA and other certifications critical to getting hired on a job site. At the end of the school year, they will rip out everything in the work spaces and students will start over again next year.

Ian Harrison works on an electrical panel inside the Electrical CTE space, which includes a center classroom and two adjoining rooms loaded with wood and steel framing, wires, panels and lots and lots of tools. Students from the Construction program do the framing, and the electrical students practice wiring, both residential and commercial grade. They will leave the program with OSHA and other certifications critical to getting hired on a job site. At the end of the school year, they will rip out everything in the work spaces and students will start over again next year.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Graphics instructor Delia Nelson and Sophia Santos talk about an assignment she’s working on in the Graphics Communications lab. Students get a heavy dose of design work, but they also see many of their projects come to fruition, right in their own classroom, which has finishing bindery equipment, digital presses, sublimation printing equipment (for products like mugs, T-shirts, ornaments and key chains) and large-form digital printers. The Graphics students have designed and printed large-scale banners and stickers for other CTE programs in their school.

Graphics instructor Delia Nelson and Sophia Santos talk about an assignment she’s working on in the Graphics Communications lab. Students get a heavy dose of design work, but they also see many of their projects come to fruition, right in their own classroom, which has finishing bindery equipment, digital presses, sublimation printing equipment (for products like mugs, T-shirts, ornaments and key chains) and large-form digital printers. The Graphics students have designed and printed large-scale banners and stickers for other CTE programs in their school.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Andrew Medina (left) looks on as Corey McClelland (middle) and Wisin Menendez oil a vehicle during a class in the Automotive center. Each year they’re in the program, students learn more about vehicles and repairs. Freshmen learn the basics, sophomores starting learning about tires and suspensions, juniors work on engines and seniors tackle electrical systems. The program has a few of its own vehicles to practice on, but it also handles real-world jobs from the community. People will drop off their cars for repairs or maintenance, and the students will handle the work. When they leave, students will be ASE-certified, the standard for getting hired to an automotive shop right out of school.

Andrew Medina (left) looks on as Corey McClelland (middle) and Wisin Menendez oil a vehicle during a class in the Automotive center. Each year they’re in the program, students learn more about vehicles and repairs. Freshmen learn the basics, sophomores starting learning about tires and suspensions, juniors work on engines and seniors tackle electrical systems. The program has a few of its own vehicles to practice on, but it also handles real-world jobs from the community. People will drop off their cars for repairs or maintenance, and the students will handle the work. When they leave, students will be ASE-certified, the standard for getting hired to an automotive shop right out of school.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Ash Levesque (left) and Rosie Gurna share a laugh while working together on a graphics project, while teacher Delia Nelson works with Jacqueline Pineda.

Ash Levesque (left) and Rosie Gurna share a laugh while working together on a graphics project, while teacher Delia Nelson works with Jacqueline Pineda.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Instructor Delia Nelson at the head of the Graphic Communications lab.

Instructor Delia Nelson at the head of the Graphic Communications lab.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Inside the Engineering room at East Providence High School.

Inside the Engineering room at East Providence High School.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Inside the Automotive Center at East Providence High School.

Inside the Automotive Center at East Providence High School.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Inside the Automotive Center at East Providence High School.

Inside the Automotive Center at East Providence High School.

Photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.

Posted Wednesday, April 19, 2023 7:00 am

East Providence High School
2000 Pawtucket Avenue
East Providence, RI 02914
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By Scott Pickering

East Providence High School is one of the clear leaders in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming in the state of Rhode Island. The spectacular new facility, which was built for $189.5 million and opened in 2021, is a cathedral to CTE.

The design of the building and the design of the curriculum have a chicken-and-egg dynamic. Neither came first, or both came first, and they are intrinsically linked.

The school currently hosts 10 different CTE pathways, with an 11th, Fashion Design, scheduled to debut next year. Each of those specialties has its own space, delineated with grand signs, clearly visible to the rest of the school through enormous hallway windows, and loaded with state-of-the-art equipment and technology.

The Culinary Arts program is housed in a spectacular, commercial kitchen that can churn out food for hundreds of people. The Automotive program has six garage bays, each with a lift, and is capable of handling any form of auto repair.

The Graphic Communications room is the size of at least two, maybe three, standard classrooms. In addition to dozens of large Apple desktop computers, it has an array of professional-grade printers for large-scale graphics, posters, stickers and more.

The Engineering room is loaded with 3D printers, laser printers and window shelves that showcase student artwork for everyone passing in the halls.

The Nursing room is designed like a hospital ward, with beds, life-size “patient” robot dummies, IVs, blood pressure monitors and more. The teacher can program symptoms, medication doses and vital body settings into a tablet computer, and the students practice tending to their patients, reading the signals and keeping track of vitals.

We visited five of the 10 CTE programs during a recent tour of the school. Each photo tells some of the story of what students are doing any given day.

Learn more about CTE programs throughout the East Bay.