Westminster schools break ground for technical education hub

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Westminster Public Schools broke ground at Ranum Middle School as part of a vision to transform the campus into a career technical education hub.

“It’s a wonderful, wonderful day for a Ranum grad, a Westminster Public School District 50 grad, to see this building being repurposed for not just our local community, but the community beyond our borders,” said Board President Ken Ciancio on Jan. 25.

e project, dubbed “Ranum Reimagined,” will provide students with a dual track. ey’ll have opportunities to pursue a career while earning their high school diploma. Career and technical education students will have opportunities to collaborate with industry experts and pick up professional certi cations, college-level courses and job skills.

But it will take time to come to full fruition. e reimagined campus will evolve in stages to be built in the coming decade.

Phase I will build o existing career and technical education programs and add pathways to positions such as pharmacy technicians, phlebotomists, certi ed nursing assistants, sports medicine, physical therapists and more.

Later phases are still being talked about between partners and community engagement e orts.

Based on student surveys, Phase II is expected to focus on public safety with programs in policing, re sciences and emergency medicine. Phase III is slated to include aviation, aeronautics, aerospace and drone technology.

“We’d like to see this building open from 6 a.m. to midnight and used all the time for many, many purposes,” said Ciancio.