Starting next year, high school students in Baldwin County Schools will be able to obtain vocational training and maybe even an associate degree—before they graduate.

“We’ve heard for years about the workforce has aged in Alabama. We constantly hear there’s no workers, we can’t find plumbers, we can’t find welders, we can’t find electrical technicians,” Eddie Tyler, superintendent of Baldwin County Schools, said. “We’re going to do something about it.”

Baldwin County Schools is in the process of constructing the Baldwin Preparatory Academy, a career training school on Alabama State Highway 59 in Loxley. Officials say it’s the first of its kind in the state. The 182,000 square-foot building is expected to open for the 2024-2025 school year and will serve 1,050 students from grades 10-12 once it’s fully operational.

Not only will students from Baldwin County public schools be able to enroll, but also students from private and religious schools, as well as other school systems, can apply for a waiver to enroll, Tyler said.

The school will provide training in a variety of trades, including welding, advanced manufacturing, health services and cosmetology. But unlike a traditional school, the students will also wear the uniforms for the field they’re training in and clock-in and clock-out. Academic classes will be tailored toward the trades the students are training in. The idea is that, when the students graduate, they’re ready for a seamless transition into the workforce.