Cathedral City High School’s Digital Arts Technology Academy (DATA) is has been selected for the second consecutive year as one of 15 California Partnership Lighthouse Academies.
The Digital Arts Technology Academy is an award-winning, grant-funded school-within-a-school that focuses on the Arts, Media, and Entertainment career pathway. DATA students are able to take advantage of unique opportunities and experiences that are not typically a part of a traditional high school education. The three-year academy program provides a college preparatory curriculum that incorporates digital arts elective courses at each grade level. Partnerships with local companies and organizations also play an integral part in the academy’s continued growth and success.
Students officially enter the Digital Arts Technology Academy in tenth grade, where they travel as a singular group (cohort) through core content classes and DATA electives until graduation. Academy teachers collaborate on a regular basis to create interdisciplinary, problem-based projects and industry-relevant experiences that build from one year to the next. Ninth grade students are able to take Contemporary Media, a pre-academy course designed to serve as an introduction to academy offerings and courses.
As a California Partnership Academy, the Digital Arts Technology Academy is part of a network of roughly 500 public school programs supported by competitive state grants. California Partnership Academies are designed to prepare students for both college and careers by relating academic subjects to a career pathway through a sequence of career-technical courses, linking students to the outside world and career paths of possible future interest. Academies form partnerships with employers in the selected career field, along with colleges and universities in the region.
California Partnership Academy programs target students who are under-performing or economically disadvantaged. Students enrolled in California Partnership Academy programs perform better than state averages in overall graduation rates, minority graduation rates, standardized tests, and university eligibility, despite their “at-risk” status.
The 15 Lighthouse Academies in California are recognized as leadership programs for correct implementation of the California Partnership Academy model. Lighthouse academies provide assistance to other CPA academies as well as schools interested in forming new academy programs.