Students in Bellevue Independent Schools now have the option to attend the Ignite Institute in Erlanger.
The Ignite Institute is a STEAM fields high school that opened its doors in 2019, offering classes focusing on project-based learning. Students can attain real-world experiences to help them prepare for college and careers in biomedical sciences, computer science, design, education, engineering, pre-nursing, and logistics.
The 2022/2023 school year is the first year Bellevue Independent students were able to apply for the school, which has a total enrollment of 1,046 students.
Jayden Losey, a junior at Ignite who previously attended school in the Bellevue Independent School District, said Ignite is a very welcoming place.
“They’re very open-handed; everything’s hands-on. It’s pretty great; everyone’s sweet there,” Losey said. “The colleges they have there are based on what you want to go for, say education, allied health, BioMed. I chose allied health, which is a career that I want to go into in the future.”
Bellevue High School Transition Coordinator Dave Pelgen said the school district will always consider new programs that benefit their students.
“The Bellevue Independent School District will always consider programs that can provide our students with opportunities that we do not provide in-house,” Pelgen said. “Just as we utilize the Campbell County Area Technology Center for vocational programs and Gateway/NKU for dual credit, this was an opportunity for students to explore some different career pathways.”
Bellevue has two students other than Losey enrolled in the Ignite Institute. One attends classes in the design college and one in the computer science college. Pelgen said as they do with their dual credit program, the school will review the Ignite Institute program for its effectiveness among students when the year is over.
Losey said she chose to apply to Ignite because they have connections to more colleges to refer students once they graduate than a regular high school would. She said she plans to continue nursing once she gets into college.
As a junior in high school, Losey is exposed to courses like human body systems and biomedical innovations.
“We just recently did a project for emergency room design for biomedical innovations,” Losey said. “We had to rearrange everything that would be in a hospital, but we had to add on things. My group decided to add a tech desk for things like triage. It would be triage phone calls coming in and out, but people don’t have to come into the hospital but can make phone calls instead.”
Students typically start in an Ignite program their freshman year and attend all four years.
“The Ignite Institute promises immersion in careers for all four years of high school with opportunities to participate in co-ops and internships later in high school,” Pelgen said. “For this reason, it is relatively important for students to start out during their freshman year.”
Because it wasn’t offered until her junior year, Losey couldn’t start at Ignite earlier. She said she thought it was harder for her to get accepted into the school as a junior.
When applying, she had to write an essay on the career path she wanted to take, explaining why she should get into the program and why she was interested in the career.
“It’s more difficult for me to get in because more kids usually move up from their freshman year if they want to stay, they have the choice to stay, and they can just move up,” Losey said. “But me being a junior, I have to make the essay and try to get in there.”
Losey said she was excited when she found out she had been accepted.
“I was really excited when I got into it, and they messaged me back because I know it’s kind of a big thing to go to a different school that’s based on your career,” Losey said.
Aside from attending events at Ignite, such as their homecoming dance, students can still play sports and attend clubs and after-school activities at their “home” school. In Losey’s case, she plays softball for Bellevue High School.
Losey said it could be challenging to keep up with things at both schools because of the distance between them. Because the Ignite Institute is an optional program, students are responsible for their transportation.
The Ignite Institute opens its applications for the following school year in the fall of the previous school year.
“The application is a first come, first served process,” Pelgen said. “The interested family completes the online application and selects which ‘college’ they wish to be enrolled in. That is pretty much it.”
Students enrolled in the Ignite Institute follow the Boone County Schools calendar, not their home district.
Pelgen said he couldn’t know how competitive the program is, but with Ignite opening its doors to more districts, he said it would seemingly grow more competitive.
