SUN Area Technical Institute

SUN Area Technical Institute is a public, vocational education institution located in New Berlin, Pennsylvania. SUN Area Technical Institute (often shortened to SUN Tech) provides technical education to high school students from five public school districts in a three county region (Snyder County, Union County and Northumberland County), including Lewisburg Area School District, Mifflinburg Area School District, Midd-West School District, Selinsgrove Area School District and Shikellamy School District.[3] SUN Area Technical Institute also provides day and evening adult education for a fee charged to the students.[4]

SUN Area Technical Institute
Address
815 Market St.

New Berlin
,
Union County
,
Pennsylvania
17855

United States
Information
TypePublic
School board5 elected members
AdministratorJennifer Hain (2014)

Dennis Hain

Jack Bohn
PrincipalJudy Sharer
Faculty40
Grades11-12 Grade, Adults
Number of pupils252 pupils (2014)[1]

Shikellamy SD 63 pupils
Midd-West SD 59 pupils
Selinsgrove Area SD 46 pupils
Lewisburg Area SD 25 pupils

Mifflinburg Area SD 68 pupils
Quality certificationISO 9001[2]
Websitehttp://www.sun-tech.org/
School District region in Snyder County

In 2014, enrollment was reported as 252 pupils in 11th and 12th grades, with 40.87% of pupils eligible for a free lunch due to family poverty. Additionally, 22.6% of pupils received special education services.[5]

The Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit IU16 provides the School with a wide variety of services like specialized education for disabled students and hearing, speech and visual disability services and professional development for staff and faculty.[6]

SUN Area Technical Institute is governed by the SUN Area Technical Institute Joint Operating Committee which is composed of one school board member from each member school district and the Superintendent of Record for the year. On an annually rotating basis, a superintendent from one of the five sending districts also oversees SUN Tech. The school's foundation called SUN Area Career & Technology Education Foundation is overseen by a seven-member board made up of its management team, a local school board representative and several local business owners.[7]

In the Spring of each year, the SUN Area Technical Institute budget proposal must be submitted to the School Boards of each of the five sending public school districts for approval or rejection. Each District pays an annual fee to SUN Area Technical Institute based on the number of pupils attending from their District.[8][9] According to Sun Tech Administrative Director Dennis Hain, 73 percent of the school's budget is salary and benefits.[10] By law SUN Tech relies on funding from the local participating school districts, coupled with state and federal grants, private grants from businesses and donations. It has no taxing power.

In February 2014, Terry Anselmo, SUN Area Technical Institutes advanced precision machining instructor, was awarded a national prize from The Fred V. Fowler Company Quality Measuring Instruments.[11]

History

SUN Area Vocational-Technical School was first conceived in the early 1960s as a solution to the shortage of skilled labor in central Pennsylvania.[12] Vocational training was a widely accepted solution, however questions over district participation and the location of the new school prevented it from opening until 20 local districts accepted the Articles of Agreement in 1967.[13]

SUN Area Vocational-Technical School opened in the fall of 1967 at its first location on Market St. in Sunbury, Pennsylvania.[14] The school originally served students from Lewsiburg, Mifflinburg, Adams Township, Beavertown, Spring Township, Shikellamy, Monroe Township, Chapman Township, Jackson Township, Freeburg, Selinsgrove, Penn Township, Union Township, Shamokin Dam, Middlecreek, Center, Middleburg, Franklin, West Perry, and Perry.[15]

On March 3, 1968, SUN Area Vocational-Technical School was authorized to purchase property and construct a new building in New Berlin, PA.[16] Throughout the subsequent 4 decades many district mergers occurred. In 1987, SUN Area Vocational-Technical School was shortened to SUN Area Technical School. In 1995, it was renamed SUN Area Career and Technology Center, and once again in 2009 the school was renamed SUN Area Technical Institute.

In 2013, SUN Area Technical Institute purchased the Playworld Systems building on Cherry St. in New Berlin, PA. This location was named the SUN Tech West Campus and is currently being remodeled for future expansion.

Program offerings

SUN Tech offers programs in:[17]


In 2014, the school added CDL training (Commercial Drivers License). It is a collaboration with Sage Truck Driving Schools. The program is open to students 18 years old and above with it also open to the public in the evening.[18]

SOAR program

SUN Tech offers the state's SOAR program to its students. SOAR is a Pennsylvania Department of Education program that facilitates a student's progress from high school to college by allowing them to earn college credit while still in high school. The school works with Pennsylvania College of Technology,[19] Luzerne County Community College and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania to permit students to earn college credits while remaining enrolled in high school.[20]

ACE

SUN Area Technical Institute students have access to Bloomsburg University's Summer College and Advanced College Experience (ACE) during the summer of their sophomore, junior and senior years (after high school graduation). Tuition is deeply discounted to 75% of the regular student rate.[21] Successful students earn college credits that can be readily transferred to other Pennsylvania public colleges and universities through the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Center (PA TRAC) system.[22]

Penn NOW program

In 2014, SUN Area Technical Institute offered several dual enrollment courses in conjunction with Pennsylvania College of Technology. Penn College NOW classes are taught by approved High School teachers at the high school.[23] Penn College NOW is partially funded by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-270) through the Pennsylvania Department of Education, by the support of Pennsylvania companies through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and by Pennsylvania College of Technology.

References
  1. Pennsylvania Department of Education (November 6, 2014). "SUN Tech Institute Fast Facts 2014".
  2. SUN Tech Administration (2014). "ISO 9001".
  3. SUN Tech Administration (2014). "Information for Students".
  4. SUN Tech.org, SUN Tech Courses - Adult Education, 2014
  5. PDE, SUN Tech Area Institute Fast Facts 2014, 2014
  6. CSIU16 administration (2014). "CSIU Regional Schools".
  7. SUN Area Technical Institute, SUN Tech Foundation, 2014
  8. Rick Dandes, Lewisburg school board OKs SUN Tech budget, The Daily Item, March 13, 2014
  9. Evamarie Socha, Mifflinburg school board rejects SUN Tech budget, The Daily Item, March 3, 2014
  10. Ali Stevens (March 11, 2014). "Selinsgrove refuses Sun Tech budget". WKOK News 1070AM.
  11. The Daily Item, SUN Tech Instructor Awarded National Prize, February 20, 2014
  12. "Labor Shortage Points to Need of Tech School". Sunbury Daily Item. August 14, 1965.
  13. "Schoolmen OK Agreement for Tech Program". Sunbury Daily Item. January 13, 1967.
  14. "AVTS Architect Hired, School Opens in Fall". Sunbury Daily Item. April 22, 1067.
  15. "Vo Tech School Operation Seen For September". Sunbury Daily Item. February 21, 1967.
  16. "Vo-Tech Board Purchases Site at New Berlin". Sunbury Daily Item. March 4, 1968.
  17. "SUN Area Technical Institute Program List". SUN Area Technical Institute. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  18. Evamaries Socha, School Debuts Truck Driver Training, The Daily Item, August 25, 2014
  19. The Daily Item (October 4, 2013). "Knock Out a College Semester".
  20. SUN Tech Administration (2014). "College Credits and Advanced Placement".
  21. Bloomsburg University Administration (2013). "High School Students (ACE)".
  22. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (March 2010). "Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement".
  23. Pennsylvania College of Technology administration (2014). "Penn College NOW Dual Enrollment".
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