Arthur A. Benjamin Health Professions High School

Sacramento City Unified School District http://schools.scusd.edu/healthprofessions Health Professions High School, which began accepting freshmen in September 2005, is one of Sacramento City Unified School District’s “small, focused high schools.” The high school was conceived in part to address a shortage of new, qualified health care workers in the Sacramento area. It is aimed at students who want to investigate careers in medicine or veterinary medicine. Each year the school enrolls about 180 freshmen who participate in an academically rigorous curriculum focused on science. Using an Early College model, students begin college work in high school and participate in leadership training and workplace learning with health care partners. The school is open to students within the district or in other Sacramento-area school districts. Students are expected to at least complete calculus by the time they graduate. Besides the more traditional biology, chemistry, and physics courses, students must also take health and biomedical science for four years as well as courses on nutrition, microbiology, and anatomy and physiology. The school emphasizes hands-on learning and works to place students in job shadowing opportunities and then internships in a health care field that interests them. During their junior and senior years, students participate in such internships or take a college or Regional Occupational Program (ROP) course in their area of interest. Seniors must also study research methodologies and complete a senior project. Students learn “in an extremely supportive environment that blends positive relationships with adults, a solid academic foundation, and community-centered learning,” according to Principal Matt Perry.