Madera Unified’s unique, concurrent enrollment middle school has been named “Madera Technical Exploration Center” (MAD TEC).
MUSD trustees made the decision at their Sept. 24 board meeting, putting an end to the two-month search for a name that would best communicate the school to the public.
Members of the CTE advisory committee, the staff of the new school, and next year’s eighth graders came up with a list of several names that was then whittled down to three: CRE8 Madera (Career Research and Exploration for 8th grade), Madera Technical Exploration Center (MAD TEC), and EDGE Tech (Education Designed for Global or Growth Experiences).
The board then added several names to the list. They included Sunrise Technical Academy, Sunrise Middle School, Sunrise Technical Middle School, Sunrise Technical Center, SunTec (Sunrise Technical Center), and Madera STEM.
One suggestion from the board also included Sunrise Educational Center, which would have designated the location of both the new school and its neighbor, Virginia Lee Rose Elementary.
After a staff presentation and discussion among trustees, the board chose MAD TEC for the school, which will open in the fall of 2020.
Naming the concurrent enrollment facility was not an easy task because of its uniqueness. Students will attend labs in shifts that include Agriculture, Public Safety, Digital and Performing Arts, Engineering, Manufacturing, Health Careers and Medical Occupations, and Business and then return to their home schools for the balance of their instructional day.
Now that the naming has been accomplished, Principal Alyson Rocco and her staff are “happy and proud to have a name to start building an identity with the community.”
“Having Madera in the name was important to all stakeholders,” Rocco said, “because this unique school has an opportunity to serve all 8th-grade students from across the district.”
Rocco pointed out that “Students will learn technical skills through project-based learning in each lab school while exploring careers prior to entering Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways in high school. “Madera Technical Exploration Center” encompasses all those concepts in its name,” said Rocco.
Superintendent Todd Lile also emphasized the importance of selecting the right name. “This new school is a singularly and holistically unique concept,” Lile maintained, and the name will “help communicate its vision and mission.”
The Madera Technical Exploration Center’s staff has been at work since August preparing for the 2020 opening.