• Over 75 high quality workshops plus four pre-sessions that all ranked extremely high on evaluations.

• Awards were given to recognize model career academies in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Baker County High School in Glen St. Mary, Florida, and three awards went to Spring, Texas. The Sisyphus Award was given to Connie Majka, Tom Sheaffer of Philadelphia and Joe Coffee of Washington D.C.  The Henk Koning Exemplary Partnership Award went to Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, New Jersey.  The Exemplary Academy Alumni award went to Nicole McKessy from Delray Beach, Florida, The Exemplary Educator Award went to Dr Valerie Jones from Bradenton, Florida.

• Tony Danza, star of stage and TV, opened the conference in partnership with Philadelphia’s Northeast High School. What an outstanding performance by Tony, the students, and the Jazz Band from Northeast High.

• Thanks to our generous sponsors and partners: Philadelphia Academies, Inc., City of Philadelphia, Office of the Mayor, School District of Philadelphia, A&E, The Loews Philadelphia Hotel, The Greif Company, NOVA Southeast University, Junior Achievement, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, AED, Alliance for Excellent Education, American Youth Policy Forum, America’s Choice, Association for Career and Technical Education, Buck Institute for Education, Capture, Career Academy Support Network, Center for Secondary School Redesign, Center on Education and Work-U. of Wisconsin-Madison, ConnectEd, Education Northwest, Ford Pas, Institute for a Competitive Workforce, Jobs for the Future, Talent Development High Schools, Junior Achievement, MDRC, National Academy Foundation, National Association of Secondary School Principals,  National Associations of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, National Partnership for Careers in Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security Career Programs, Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services, Southern Region Education Board, Small Schools Workshop, and Swanson & Cosgrave Consulting.

A special thanks and recognition goes to the national planning committee, and to the local planning committee comprised of representatives from the Philadelphia Academies, Inc. and the Philadelphia School System.

Conference participants had many comments. Some were:

• This was my first NCAC conference, and I can hardly wait until next year in Austin, Texas.

• The panels at this conference were wonderful.  I learned so much in a very short period of time.  Thank you!

• Our school is just starting academies and our team learned so much in the pre-session on Curriculum Mapping.

• I am a business partner with a school, and I learned several new ideas that I can share with the advisory board at our school.

• This conference gave us an opportunity to explore and network with other SLC’s.

• The paper given by Betsy Brand was great.  Thanks for the copy to take back to school and share with the other teachers.

NCAC Mission