Wolfson Campus To Open New Tech-Driven High School In August

Miami Dade College’s newest technology initiative is here. 

Wolfson Campus will unveil the Miami Tech Mater Innovation Academy. The high school was founded in partnership with the City of Miami and Mater Academy Inc. Charter Schools—a group of 41 nationwide charter schools providing college preparatory curriculum.

The inaugural class of 100 students will simultaneously earn their high school diploma and an associate’s degree in enterprise network computing or mobile applications development. They will also obtain industry certifications from companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle. 

Located on the fifth floor of building 5000 at Wolfson Campus, the school will start classes on Aug. 17. 

“A very qualitative goal of the program is for students to come out of high school and be able to enter the workforce into a high-paying career directly,” said Christopher Barker, who oversaw the creation of the high school.

Miami Tech Mater Innovation Academy’s aim is to meet the increasing demand for tech-related jobs in Miami. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the computer and information technology fields are expected to add 682,800 jobs by 2031. Some of those jobs include occupations like web developers, digital designers, computer programmers and information security analysts. 

The College invested $2 million dollars to create the 12,500-square-foot facility. Funding was used to renovate the fifth floor of building 5000, which previously housed offices for the departments of international education and institutional effectiveness. 

That includes a revamping of the floor’s electrical network and the creation of six classroom spaces, 10 office spaces and a cafeteria space that will accommodate 200 students. 

Classrooms will be equipped with clear touch panels for instructors. Students will be provided a laptop preloaded with course textbooks that they keep until the end of each academic year. 

Other equipment will include four robotics and drone competition kits valued at $5,000 and $3,000 respectively that will be used for robotics classes. For students taking science courses, the school will provide a visual dissection table and a medical design studio that will be incorporated into lectures. 

Funding for the project was obtained through the Career and Technical Education Charter Schools Initiative—a state grant announced last February that subsidized five colleges to create a charter high school that promotes technical and vocational skills in a collegiate setting. 

Miami Tech Mater Innovation Academy will be led by Douglas Rodriguez, who has served as principal at schools like Miami Central Senior High School, Doral Academy Preparatory School and Mater Biscayne High School during his 33-year career at Miami-Dade County Public Schools. 

As principal of Doral Academy Performing Arts High School, Doral Middle School, and Doral Academy of Technology, Rodriguez’s leadership earned each school a Blue Ribbon award from the Department of Education in recognition of their academic excellence.  

“I found this school to be really unique,” Rodriguez said. “[We’re] getting kids ready into programs where the world is changing.”

Classes will be taught by MDCPS teachers and college instructors from MDC. The school will have a faculty-to-student ratio of one teacher per 25 students. 

The school will feature an ambassador program that allows 25 MDC students to provide one-on-one academic mentoring to help the high school students adapt to a collegiate setting. Meetings will take place virtually weekly or bi-weekly depending on the mentee’s schedule. 

“I’m really excited about it,” said Georges Sterling, a grant student activity coordinator who will oversee the ambassador program. “This program basically gives them the tools and the support that they need from students.”

Students interested in enrolling for the inaugural class must fill out an interest form at https://materinnovationtech.org/apply. Applicants must currently be eighth or ninth graders. 

“This type of program should be more open to the public,” said Andy Rey, a fourth-year data analytics student at Wolfson Campus who will mentor five high school students next academic year. “Having a skillful workforce is very important.”

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