Wolfson Campus To Open Tech Charter School In August

Miami Dade College and the City of Miami announced, on Tuesday, plans to start a tuition-free charter school in August to cultivate homegrown tech industry talent.  

“We always say [at MDC] that talent is universal, opportunity is not,” said MDC President Madeline Pumariega during the press conference announcing the partnership. “The only way to bridge talents and opportunities is [through] skills. This announcement today is about building those skills right here in downtown Miami.”

The charter school will be based at Wolfson Campus—the location has not been determined but will not include a new building—and serve middle and high school students. Approximately 200 students are expected to be part of the inaugural cohort. Graduates of the program will earn their high school diploma and an associate’s degree in technology from MDC. 

City of Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez said he connected with Pumariega to bring the idea to fruition in hopes of fostering a tech talent pipeline. They hope the workforce-ready project helps keep homegrown talent in Miami and gives them hands-on experience in cybersecurity, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. 

“Pathways to prosperity begin primarily with education,” Suarez said.

Funding for the school was provided by the Florida Department of Education through a $2 million grant to start a career technical education high school. The school’s name has yet to be determined, but it will include the words “Miami” and “tech” in it, according to Pumariega.

In the future, MDC and the City of Miami hope to expand the charter school to include students in kindergarten through the twelfth grade. Officials said details about the application process will be announced at a later date. 

“It always comes down to one thing, education,” Suarez said. “If we can provide premium education to all our children then we’re teaching them to fish, not giving them a fish.”