NEW HAMPSHIRE – Entering their first year of operation, New Hampshire Career Academy is now accepting students for the 2025/2026 school year.
Established in 2024, New Hampshire Career Academy is a charter school that allows students going into their senior year of high school to earn their diploma while simultaneously earning a college degree through a dual enrollment pathway, for no cost.
“When we talk about dual enrollment, students are able to fulfill the remainder of their high school credits through courses taught on the community college campus while being dual enrolled and earning credit at the same time toward their associate’s degree or certification,” said Patrick O’Mara, New Hampshire Career Academy’s executive director.
The idea was sparked in 2019 when Spalding High School came up with a dual enrollment pathway for students to attend Great Bay Community College.
A Department of Education program was created around the concept, and in 2022 work started to convert the program into its own institution.
In 2024, New Hampshire Career Academy became its own nonprofit charter school and began contracting with community colleges to expand the program, negotiating a rate that the academy would cover, and expanding the courses and programs of studies available to students. They also cover the cost of books and provide students with a laptop.
New Hampshire Career Academy is currently contracted with the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord, Manchester Community College, and Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth, and hopes to be at every community college in the state by 2030.
Unlike most other public schools, New Hampshire Career Academy does not rely, or have any impact, on local property taxes. Funding comes from state adequacy aid and a grant that combined allot $9,000 per student, as well as private dollars are also raised. The New Hampshire Career Academy also received a federal charter program grant of $1.3 million to help start the first year.
“I think this is all happening at a really apropos time when we as a state are being forced to acknowledge some issues that we have in workforce development [and] in housing,” O’Mara said. “Students are leaving to go to school in Boston or New York and they’re not coming home. So we’re losing young people and talent.”
This goes hand in hand with the state’s aging workforce. For example, the average age of a teacher in New Hampshire is 55 years old, according to O’Mara.
“We also have an issue too with businesses being able to not only hire, but retain young talent because they don’t know maybe necessarily how to communicate with them or where to look within the market to find talent,” he added.
To combat this, New Hampshire Career Academy has partnered with the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce to do a business education series on the subject of “hire education.” The goal is to help businesses understand the next generation of the workforce, how and where to find them, and also hear what issues businesses are facing and create a pipeline of young, skilled employees who are prepared for the workforce.
Through this relationship and others with businesses and schools in the community, New Hampshire Career Academy provides pathways for students into their futures, whether that be the workforce, an internship, or a four year college.
“What makes us particularly beneficial to any student is that we’re really looking forward to the future,” O’Mara said. “We’re looking at the outcome that the student is hoping to achieve.”
For anyone interested, New Hampshire Career Academy will be holding virtual information sessions once a week starting May 19 through July 1 at 7 p.m.