With the mission to inspire, empower and educate every student to excel in a diverse, global society for life-long success, the Keller Center for Advanced Learning (KCAL) is ready to function.

As a part of the 2014 Bond Package, the district voters approved to renovate South Keller Intermediate School on Oct. 15, 2014 into a campus that will primarily be more technology and career-based. The administration along with students, teachers, employees and residents were able to vote on what the building should be called. The following month, 50 percent of the votes imposed that “Keller Center for Advanced Learning” was most effective.

According to their student handbook, KCAL was built to give students a taste of business/college culture, meaning that there won’t be any bells or tardy passes unlike a regular school. Students will be treated as if they are in the workplace, being expected to dress as if they are in one every week. They will even be given an ID badge to access different parts of the building.

“We get graded on our employability instead of class worksheets or daily work,” says Automotive Technology student Alexa Evans. “The classes are less about following a set curriculum and more about preparing you for your future career.”

Developing students’ employability skills is KCAL’s main focus. Besides giving them an experience of how it works in the “real world”, KCAL also gives students the opportunity for an internship. Seniors who are in their second and third year of a career and technical education program will be eligible for one.