Labor Breaks Ground for Historic High School Revitalization

Breaking ground with golden shovels at the Hilltop Campus in Northeast DC last Tuesday, labor leaders and city and school officials celebrated the rebirth of the Phelps High School Architecture, Construction and Engineering Academy (PACE). The event marked the start of a $48 million project to redevelopment an integrated technical and academic program at PACE. The school – once the center of DC’s vocational education program – closed in 2002 due to declining enrollment rates and decreasing national support for vocational programs. “This initiative marks a new chapter in public education in the District of Columbia because it symbolizes the growing importance of both technical and academic education,” said DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, who moderated the event. After breaking into spontaneous singing of the old school song, PACE alumni spoke about the training they received from the school that helped them to find good careers in the trades. DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee, AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department Secretary-Treasurer Sean McGarvey, and Ben Glenn, of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, also spoke at the event. Labor – represented by the AFL-CIO and the Mid-Atlantic Council of Carpenters – is a major partner in the project with the DC Public Schools (DCPS). PACE is expected to open fall of 2008 and will combine rigorous academics with occupational skills training that will provide students options to both pursue higher education and a career in the architectural, construction, and engineering trades. Washington Building and Construction Trades Council Secretary-Treasurer Jerry Lozupone (far left), Sean McGarvey (3rd from left), Mayor Adrian Fenty (3rd from right), DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee (2nd from right), and Councilmember Kwame Brown (far right) at Tuesday groundbreaking 
-Report/photo by Kathleen McKirchy