A $9.5 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies will enable Washington D.C. to expand its Advanced Technical Center (ATC) program, aiming to prepare more high school students for careers in health care and address critical workforce shortages in the sector.
The donation will support the growth of the existing ATC in Ward 5 and facilitate the opening of a second location in Ward 8. The new site, scheduled to open at the Whitman-Walker Max Robinson Center during the 2025-2026 school year, is expected to serve 75 students in its first year and grow thereafter.
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser emphasized the program’s role in reimagining high school education, stating, “It is training that connects our students to jobs that exist and need D.C. residents to fill them in Washington, D.C., right now.”
The ATC, launched in 2022, currently serves about 200 students who commute daily from their high schools to take classes in nursing and cybersecurity. The program has shown promising results, with students demonstrating better attendance than their peers and earning industry credentials and college credits.
The expansion will focus on training students as certified nursing assistants and patient care technicians, aligning with the needs of the new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center set to open in early 2025. This initiative is part of a broader effort to improve health care access and create career opportunities in underserved areas of the city.
Christina Grant, state superintendent of education, highlighted the program’s growth potential, while Jenny Sharfstein Kane of Bloomberg Philanthropies emphasized the importance of providing career pathways for students who may not pursue four-year college degrees.
The city plans to match the Bloomberg gift with local funding, demonstrating a significant commitment to vocational education and addressing the projected need for hundreds of new health-care workers in D.C. by 2030.
See “$9.5M gift will help more D.C. high-schoolers train for health-care jobs” (June 7, 2024)
