Contributed ACADEMY ADDS BUILDING — The Utica Shale Academy has obtained the former Williams Energy office in Salineville.

SALINEVILLE — The Utica Shale Academy has added the former Williams Energy office to its campus in Salineville.

Superintendent Bill Watson said the site, which will now be known as the Williams Collaboration Center, will include seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms, administrative offices and more possible programming in partnership with Youngstown State University. This past summer, Watson and other school leaders had joined Governor’s Office of Appalachia Director John Carey; state Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, and state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel, R-Columbiana; Mark Lamoncha of the Ohio Department of Education; Sustainable Opportunity Development Center Director Julie Need; architect Ryan McNutt with FMD Architects of Fairlawn; and officials with Williams Energy and the Southern Local School District to review the four-story building and discuss potential usage. Watson said utilizing the building would also save on costs.

“The architect said the cost to build would be $25 million and we paid $500,000 with our previous Appalachian Regional Commission grant with Williams donating $24.5 million of the value to us,” he added. “We’re very appreciative to Williams Energy. When the Williams opportunity came up, we spoke to Carey and it was an ability to still fulfill the ($2.3 million GOA) grant. We brought in a partnership with Williams and Carey was pleased to see that happen.”

The structure located at 10 Main St. previously served as the Citizen’s Bank national headquarters and then as Williams’ district office until the company relocated to Canton last March, plus it underwent renovations in 2018 with general maintenance performed in more recent years. It is also next door to USA’s Energy Training Center and a short distance from the Hutson Building and outdoor welding lab, as well as the Utica Shale Academy Community Center at the former Destiny House Church on Church Street. Watson said plans are in the works to expand the community school and include junior high students and career-tech opportunities which could triple the enrollment to about 350 students. The program currently includes 190 pupils in grades nine through 12 who take part in a blended learning format with hands-on and online training.

“We’re going to expand to a junior high and look at furthering partnerships with YSU on one floor, then the third floor would be used for administrative offices and have a conference center in the basement,” he added. “We’ll be able to do everything we have to do with the grant because of Williams stepping up and being so generous. We’re certainly grateful to them.”

Leaders moved in late January and plan to include a heavy equipment classroom as well as build an addition for heavy equipment training and diesel mechanics at the energy training center. An open house is set for May 9 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. to showcase the Williams Collaboration Center while enrollment for the 2024-25 school year will begin on March 18 and continue through the summer.

The campus includes the Hutson Building located at 50 Main St., which houses general classrooms for grades nine through 12 and Virtual Learning Academy programming through the Jefferson County Educational Service Center; the energy training center in partnership with YSU that is located at the former Huntington Bank at 70 E. Main St. and offers industrial maintenance programming for megatronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, AC/DC electric, programmable logic controllers, diesel mechanics and horticulture to train students and adults; and the outdoor welding lab adjacent to the Hutson Building.

Plans remain on the drawing board for a two-story building next to the welding lab for classrooms, machinery, virtual welding equipment, lockers and restrooms for students working with heavy equipment operation and CNC plasma cutting. Additionally, the community center houses a gym in the basement with community services available on the main floor.

Now in its 10th year, the shale academy is a dropout recovery-and-retention school focusing on career-tech education for at-risk students who have obtained more than 1,100 certifications since 2021. Further plans include providing potential recovery-to-work efforts to help recovering drug addicts, people with chronic health issues or facing legal challenges and adult education classes would be open to residents within the four-county region to help them find new opportunities in the workforce.

It has also partnered with the Mahoning County Pathways HUB to hire community health workers, who use evidence-based strategies to obtain health services for students and their families. The Connecting Communities through Workforce Training project is expected to reduce regional poverty and improve the regional standard of living. For information, contact (330) 932-9997 or visit uticashaleschool.com