The family and consumer science (FCS) department will merge with the art, business, communications, engineering and technology departments to make up the polytechnic department in the 2023-24 school year. According to FCS department chair Nancy Spencer, the switch to the polytechnic department aims to prepare students for adulthood by providing an environment that allows students to explore their interests in high school.

Freshman Ryan Sharpe said, “I just think that the fact that there’s so many polytechnic classes shows how good Carmel is. If you think you want to become a cook, an entrepreneur…or basically whatever, there’s a class for you to explore what you want to do, when most people only get that opportunity after high school.”

According to Spencer, the change in categorization will not have any drastic effects on the current curriculum. Spencer said the programs within the polytechnic department will still retain much of their identity and be independent of each other.

“We’re having a shift in how we market our department and how kids identify our department,” Spencer said. “It’s really like a college concentrator…maybe a student wants to go into education. Education is not just being a classroom teacher. It can also include education in the corporate world…they get in there and they start thinking I don’t want to be a teacher. By the time they go to college, they know what not to do.” By Anthony Pho