Description
In 1995, a group of community health care providers and higher education leaders recognized that too few inner-city children were envisioning the career possibilities in the health professions. Too few had the role models, mentors, and rigorous academic preparation needed to nurture these dreams. And, consequently, too few were finding their way into professional health care futures.
Kennedy Academy for Health Careers was created as their solution to this problem, providing a seamless pathway of opportunity for Boston children to access the city's rich educational resources in the health professions. Founded as one of Boston's original pilot schools, the school was a partnership of the Boston Public Schools and the Center for Community Health Education Research and Service (CCHERS) at Northeastern University. In 1998, seeking greater autonomy and program flexibility, the school applied for and received designation from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as one of the first Horace Mann Charter Schools. Since that time the school has been located on the main campus of Northeastern University, in the heart of Boston's higher education and health care community. Beyond the college campus, partnerships with Brigham and Women's Hospital, Mass General Hospital, and a variety of other community health care providers bring rich career-focused experiential learning opportunities to HCa students.
HCa is a school that prepares children for the academically rigorous higher education needed for health professions. In the classroom and in extracurricular activities, our students are challenged to reach their full potential every day. HCa is a place where students prepare themselves to realize their own dreams of becoming the doctors, nurses, researchers, and social workers who will make up the diverse healthcare workforce of tomorrow.
