View source for Vocational-technical school

{{Short description|Type of school in the United States and Canada}}
{{distinguish|Professional technical school|Vocational school|Technical school}}
{{Unreferenced|date=December 2009}}
{{sources exist|date=June 2025}}
A '''vocational-technical school''', often called a '''vo-tech school''', is a [[high school]] in the [[United States]] and [[Canada]] designed to bring [[Vocational education|vocational]] and [[Technical school|technical]] [[training]] to its [[student]]s. Proponents claim that students bound for college may be able to use such skills to realize a distinct educational advantage over other students in their major.

Additionally, vocational-technical schools often provide [[adult education|training to adults]] from the surrounding communities. The training, offered for a cost, may range from a single course to an entire program of ten or more courses.

Vocational-technical schools are licensed, registered, or [[educational accreditation|accredited]] like any other high school.

==Types==


Though less common, some vocational-technical schools are ''full-time''. Not only do they provide vocational and technical training, but they also provide traditional academics that students would typically receive during high school, all within one school district or [[school|building]]. Such schools often expose students to their academic classes during one half of the day, and to their vocational and technical classes during the other half, or have academic weeks and vocational-technical weeks.

Most vocational-technical schools, however, are ''part-time''. This means that they only provide vocational and technical training, while the academic portion of their education is obtained from their home [[school district]]. Students engaged in such schools often spend one half of the [[academic term|school year]] at their home school for academic classes and the other half of the school year at the vocational-technical school for training, alternatively they may go to their home school in the morning and their vocational-technical school after lunch.

==Vocational and technical programs==
Programs that are common to vocational-technical schools include:

*''Agricultural:'' [[animal science]], [[floriculture]], [[food science]], [[horticulture]], [[landscaping]]
*''Business:'' [[accountancy|accounting]] and [[finance]], [[advertising]], [[Administration of business|business administrative services]], [[commerce]],  [[hospitality management studies|hospitality management]], [[marketing]], [[office management]], [[retailing|retail management]]
*''Computing:'' [[computer networking]], [[computer programming]], [[computer repair technician|computer repair]], [[information technology]], [[Computer Science]]
*''Construction:'' [[physical plant|building maintenance]], [[cabinet making]], [[carpentry]], [[electrical wiring|electrical construction]], [[HVAC]], [[masonry]], [[plumbing]], [[woodworking]], construction technology
*''Creative:'' [[commercial art]], [[fashion design]], [[graphic arts]], [[mass media]], [[new media arts]]
*''Culinary:'' [[culinary art]]s, [[food preparation]], [[pastry chef|pastry arts]]
*''Healthcare:'' [[allied health professions]], [[cosmetology]], [[medicine|medical science]]s, [[nursing]]
*''Human services:'' [[childcare]], [[criminal justice]], [[early childhood education]], [[emergency service]]s, [[fire protection]]
*''Mechanical:'' automotive collision repair, [[auto mechanic|automotive technology]], [[Diesel engine|diesel technology]], [[machining]], [[welding]]
*''Technical:'' [[aviation]], [[computer-aided design]], [[electronics|electronics technology]], [[engineering]], [[logistics]]

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vocational-Technical School}}
[[Category:Vocational education in the United States| ]]
[[Category:Vocational education in Canada| ]]

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