Just down the road from McLennan Community College, Premier High School – a small charter – takes up the space once held by a church.
Now, it’ll also serve as the site of a new adult education program.
TexasWorks, a state-funded program, provides a tuition-free high school diploma and career certification program for adults aged 18 to 50.
"There does not exist another option for earning a high school diploma’s that’s fully recognized along with an industry-based certification tuition-free for an adult," said TexasWorks Statewide Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Camarena.
She has helped launch these programs across the state. She said the program allows adults who never completed high school different opportunities.
"It’s just closing the chapter on something, but in such a successful way so that now they’re able to embark on the next phase, which is a career pathway that is sustainable," Camarena said.
Waco’s campus is one of 20 new campuses launching across the state this year. Camarena said each program will focus on the needs of the city they’re in. For Waco, the focus will be on medical fields, entrepreneurship and computer science.
But, Camarena said they also plan to focus on soft skills.
"What we’re hearing across the board is we need to have skilled employees, but they also need to know how to come in and how to participate in training and to work cooperatively," Camarena said.
Waco Campus Director Lisa Linton said 19 students had already completed the application for the first year of the program. They expect to have an enrollment between 25 and 50.
"We are offering opportunities, we are opening doors and we are allowing them to come back," Linton said of the program.
The program is catered to those adults 18 to 50 who do not have a high school diploma.
Applications are still open for this school year and you can find more information at texasworks.com.
