That sentiment can be heard from students and instructors in just about every one of the 16 half-day programs at the school, which serves three districts in the western end of Montgomery County: Pottsgrove, Spring-Ford Area, and Upper Perkiomen.
The center, in Limerick, is starting the school year after completing a $36.7 million renovation that included adding 50,000 square feet of space. The school, with an enrollment of 450 this year, opened in 1966, but it has been decades since there was such a large-scale upgrade.
Students coming back to other newly renovated high schools might typically rave about a new chemistry lab or a spacious gym. At Western Montgomery, they are excited about the new alignment system, the 10 shining hydraulic-auto lifts, the high-tech paint booth, the new 80-seat "restaurant" in which culinary students will be serving food to community residents, and the cosmetology wing, which looks like a beauty salon instead of a classroom.
After all, if the equipment they work with is similar to what they would use on the job, students might have an added advantage in landing work.
The administrators who run the schools are acutely aware of that. The new areas to train health-care workers, for example, are being set up with simulated medical records and a doctor's office, said Joseph Greb, the school's administrative director. "We try to mimic the workplace as much as possible."
High-achieving school districts such as Pottsgrove, Spring-Ford, and Upper Perkiomen are more likely to brag about the number of students attending Ivy League schools than the number who go on to work as auto mechanics, health technicians, police officers, or carpenters.
But career and technical schools like Western Montgomery play a key role in the state's education system.
