CATE classes experience changes for 2023-34 school year

Belle O.

At the Lexington Two Innovation Center in Cayce, SC, classes are now double blocked, along with freshmen being allowed to take classes there. These changes have taken place with the new school year with the intent of better serving the students at BC and AHS.

This information is important to know for students who want to take classes there in the future. This change was debated for several months by a district committee consisting of high school administrators, high school counselors, and CATE administrators.

Students are now required to take multiple levels of a course at once, depending on what they are taking. If a student wants to take Sports Medicine, now they can take both Sports Medicine I and II in the same semester at an accelerated rate. In addition to pushing students to finish the pathways they begin, this new model helps students not forget what they’ve previously learned. In short, students can also complete all four levels of a course faster, which helps them in their future career.

The Lexington 2 CATE center offers many different courses for students to take. The courses students can take include Automotive, Barbering, Construction, Culinary, Computer programming, Cosmetology, Digital Art and design, Dual Enrollment, Engineering, Electricity, Firefighting, Health Science, Multimedia, Sports Medicine, and Welding.

“Scheduling for a CATE building is always tough due to the need for core courses and travel time,” said Mr. Schilit, Airport High School’s principal. Students who have the Innovation Center in the morning are there from 8:35 am-11:35 am. They must be back at their home school by 12:10 pm.

Not every pathway has been affected, however. “The decision to double block some courses,” said Mrs. Coleman, L2IC principal, “and not others was based on the amount of competencies each course required.”

“We do have a small cohort of freshmen here this semester,” said Mrs. Coleman when asked if there is a certain number of freshmen allowed.

An Innovation Center is a space that offers various resources and services. This resource wasn’t always available for high school students. The school was founded in 2018 as a resource for Airport and BC students.

If you have any questions regarding the CATE center please contact the school at (803) 936-5550. To learn more about this change, go to https://l2ic.lex2.org/.