‘A transformative model’: Ambitious plans for WCPS’s IMPACT Center revealed

Published 12:18 pm Wednesday, January 22, 2025

by David Horowitz

DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

Warren County Public Schools has revealed numerous tentative plans for its IMPACT Center for Leadership and Innovation — its upcoming, approximately 180,000-square-foot school that, in the years to come, will serve students full time as the district’s most cutting-edge, ambitious facility yet.

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The under-construction center, expected to cost $82 million, is scheduled to open in August 2026. It’ll feature six unique learning spaces, each consisting of five classrooms, a lab, a student collaborative space and a teacher collaborative space, IMPACT Center Principal Cody Rich said.

“The IMPACT Center stands at the forefront of educational innovation, setting a new standard as a global leader in cutting-edge learning experiences,” Rich states in a district document. “This state-of-the-art facility, equipped with the most advanced technology, is designed to empower WCPS students to push the boundaries of creativity and discovery.”

Asked how it feels to be 19 months away from opening, Rich summed up, “One word: Excited.”

Rich shared current plans with the Daily News. He noted that they may still change based on stakeholder and community feedback.

Students will receive all instruction at the Impact Center and then return to their home school for extracurriculars, Rich said. It’ll primarily obtain funding based on attendance, like other public schools, and WCPS will additionally seek grants and private partnerships, he added.

Classes will largely feature project-based learning rather than utilize more traditional lesson formats, Rich said. For this, it’ll use a teaching-learning model of project-based learning provided by a partnership with the national nonprofit New Tech Network.

The curricula will strongly focus on what the district calls “authentic projects” — where students incorporate design thinking, collaboration, communication and other leadership skills to tackle real-world needs.

Students will be scored largely with performance-based criteria rather than standardized testing to show they’ve achieved proficiency in a given content area, Rich said.

It’ll offer numerous learning experiences built on a combination of innovation and leadership, Rich said. The latter will feature the PK-12 leadership-development model FranklinCovey, which WCPS prominently and widely instills as part of its core philosophy.

“Graduating students with next-generation leadership skills is our number-one focus,” Rich said.

It’s also an initiative greatly bolstered by a partnership with the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce, Rich said.

“It has been a huge help and supporter of ours — they set up meetings for us, helped us connect with our community,” he said. “They’ve been a staple of getting us up and off the ground.”

Enrollment

While exact figures remain especially tentative, WCPS is planning to base student enrollment on a mixture of 70% lottery and 30% merit/application, the latter accounting for “grades, attendance, behavior, teacher recommendations, leadership & extracurricular activities and essay questions,” according to a district flyer.

Students who submit an application and are not admitted based on merit will be automatically placed in the lottery, Rich said.

Upon opening, the center will enroll one class of full-time seventh- through ninth-grade students who take all their classes at the center, Rich said. After that first year, it’ll enroll one full-time seventh grade class annually for three years.

In these early years, students in the grades above those first several annual cohorts will not be able to access the center full time but will be able to attend for part-time, specialized programming based on their interest, Rich added.

While subject to change, the expected capacity is 1,200–1,500 full-time students. However, Rich emphasized that programming in some capacity will be available for any WCPS student interested.

Academies and pathways

It’ll have six academies, each featuring several pathways.

Pathways feature a sequence of courses and facilitate student learning toward achieving a particular industry certification, many recognized nationally. Commonly, these require a certification exam to acquire.

WCPS is still planning which certifications the IMPACT Center will offer for students. For example, the center might train students to obtain certification to become a registered nursing assistant.

The center will provide early-career exploration for seventh and eight graders to identify pathways early and help them explore different careers more robustly, Rich said. Certain pathways can be started as early as eighth grade and potentially finished between sophomore and senior year.

All students who attend the IMPACT Center full time for four years will earn the FranklinCovey Model School for Leadership Development’s eight micro-credentials, obtaining the organization’s LifeReady leadership certificate.

This, said Rich, makes it unique among innovation centers.

A high school diploma will also be awarded from students’ respective home schools upon graduation.

The six academies will each have an entrepreneurial focus.

Under the AI and Cyber Systems academy, WCPS plans to offer pathways in artificial intelligence, cyber security, data science and network administration.

In the Aeronautics academy, WCPS is planning pathways in aerospace engineering, piloting and unmanned aerial systems such as drones.

For the Biomedical Innovation academy, the center is considering pathways for biomedical sciences, phlebotomy technicians, pre-nursing and clinical medical assistants.

Under the The Design, Enterprise and Visionary Arts academy, WCPS plans to have pathways in cinematography and video production, graphic design, and management and entrepreneurship.

With the Industrial Design and Fabrication academy, the center plans to have pathways for computerized manufacturing and machining, electrical technicians, and machinist operators.

And WCPS plans for the Robotics and Advanced Systems academy to offer pathways in electrical/electronics engineering, automation and additive manufacturing.

The center will also have extensive early college programming focused on enabling interested students to obtain various associate degrees before they graduate high school.

Personalization, real-world solutions

The center will feature personalized learning, where if a child wants to pursue an offered area of study, the IMPACT Center can help facilitate the student’s exploration of that area through robust community and business partnerships, Rich said.

It’s also exploring other ways to enable personalization. For example, it’s considering providing a weekly flex day for students where they can create their own schedule based on their interests and needs, according to Rich.

There’ll be a cutting-edge Makerspace, or Idea Factory, open to all WCPS students and teachers. It’ll feature state-of-the-art 3D printers, laser engraving and cutting, and merchandise design and production.

WCPS plans for the Makerspace to open up opportunities for entrepreneurship, Rich said.

The center hopes to eventually deploy a catalog of purchasable products that can be customized for community members, Rich said. It would entail a design process, where community members would go back and forth with the product designers, and where students would lead as much as possible, he added.

“This groundbreaking facility will set the standard for schools nationwide and worldwide, offering a transformative model that prioritizes next-generation leadership skills and dynamic, non-traditional educational experiences,” Rich stated.

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