The Manteca Unified School Board recently approved a new and innovative Game Design and Digital Art Academy to open this coming school year at Lathrop High School. Created for students looking to break into the video game industry, or those that just have a passion for gaming, computers, or digital art, the academy program was designed to be a dynamic, immersive, educational experience.

Core academic classes are completed using hybrid classes, both online and with instructors.  The entire academic day is spent in various lab environments, with a schedule built around flexibility.   The combination of instructor-led sessions and open lab time offers students the opportunity to go beyond the traditional classroom; giving students time to explore, learn, experiment, and create.

Students enrolled in the academy program will complete core academic classes through independent study.  The classes are hybrid-online courses, with weekly instructor-led lessons as well as additional online coursework completed throughout the week.  Students will have an academic advisor assigned for weekly progress meetings to ensure academic success.

This new academic program builds on the excellent work of Kenneth (Scott) Myers, Business/CTE Department Chair at Lathrop High School, at kmyers@musd.net. Scott previously received University of California Office of the President approval for a Computer Programming and Game Design as a Math Elective.  Scott wrote: “The entire program has been developed with college preparatory coursework and CTE classes, to serve our college and career ready students.  All of the software in the course is currently in use in the game design and digital art industry, to give our students the most realistic and challenging course work possible, while still meeting the needs of high school graduation and college acceptance requirements.”

Special thanks to Scott for sharing this excellent news!

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