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Date: 3/31/2021
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Students in the Building and Property Management shop at the Lower Pioneer Valley Career and Technical Education Center (LPVEC CTEC) are currently renovating a meeting house at the Plantation Condominiums.
Erica Soares, a school counselor at LPVEC, lives in the condos and saw the student’s opportunity and brought it to their attention. She added that she thought it would be an excellent plug for them because many residents in the school districts do not know that they are an option.
The vocational school serves seven school districts – Agawam, West Springfield, Southwick, Ludlow, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Hampden-Wilbraham. Students who attend LPVEC go to their local school for a half-day and then go to LPVEC for the remainder of the day.
For the past three weeks, the students have been patching walls, sanding walls, and painting the meeting house. Soares told Reminder Publishing that she expects them to finish up this week.
Soares mentioned that some programs still cannot do their off-site visits. Students in the health assisting program cannot visit any hospitals or nursing homes because they do not allow visitors. There is a limit to how many people they can transport due to the protocols with spacing.
LPVEC has been teaching students trades for over 40 years. Initially, the school was located in Chicopee, but in 2005, the executive director mentioned that they needed more space to serve the students and suggested moving to a location they serve.
The school is now located on Brush Hill Avenue in West Springfield, in the former Western Massachusetts Electric Company building. Soares said they renovated the building and added on to it. They have three floors plus the basement and operate 11 different trades. The culinary arts trade runs a restaurant in the building. Right now, it is closed due to COVID-19, but it still offers take-out.
The school currently serves 450 students that are in high school. Students in ninth and 11th grades attend the vocational school in the morning, and 10th and 12th graders participate in the afternoon.
Soares mentioned that the vocational school transports the students, and for those who have any extracurricular activities, attending their school will not interfere. Students graduate from their local schools and receive an award ceremony at LPVEC to accept a trade certification.
It is free for students in one of the seven districts to attend. The application can be found online at www.lpvctec.org. Soares said that the best thing for families to do is bring the application to their child’s current guidance counselor to get all of the necessary documentation.