Broward schools launch Space Florida Academy for aerospace careers

Broward County Public Schools launched the Space Florida Academy at nine high schools, giving students from Coconut Creek to Plantation a new pathway into aerospace, aviation, engineering and advanced manufacturing careers. The district said the academy will pair rigorous coursework with hands-on industry experiences, career exploration and partnerships with colleges, universities and business leaders.

The first campuses are Blanche Ely High School, Boyd H. Anderson High School, Coral Glades High School, Coral Springs High School, Charles W. Flanagan High School, Miramar High School, Northeast High School, Piper High School and Plantation High School. Together, those schools reach students across neighborhoods that include Coconut Creek, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Plantation and the Lauderhill and Deerfield Beach feeder areas, putting the program within reach of students who might otherwise have to leave Broward to find a direct route into the industry.

BCPS said students who complete the academy will have access to a job portal featuring companies that want to hire Space Florida Academy graduates. The district has not yet identified the employers or detailed which certificates and credentials each school will offer, but the launch is designed to move beyond classroom exposure and into hiring pipelines connected to Florida’s aerospace economy.

Howard Hepburn, who was approved by the Broward County School Board as superintendent on April 16, 2024, said the program is meant to expand opportunities while helping students build skills for college and today’s workforce. BCPS, the sixth-largest district in the nation and the second-largest in Florida, serves more than 247,500 students in 239 schools, centers and technical colleges, giving the academy a potential reach far beyond a single magnet program.

Space Florida said its broader academy model is tied to aerospace-industry demand fields including aerospace, advanced manufacturing, construction, cybersecurity and IT, logistics and semiconductors. The state agency said the goal is also to break down outdated perceptions about what an aerospace career requires. Space Florida said in August 2024 that 23 school districts across Florida had signed on to begin implementing the program, making Broward part of a statewide workforce strategy rather than an isolated pilot.

CareerSource Broward has described Florida as a premier location for space technologies and said major aerospace companies and defense contractors operate in the state. In Broward, the launch links that statewide industry base to local classrooms, with the clearest early benefits likely to land at the nine campuses now carrying the Space Florida Academy name.