In Newark, students are stepping into the city's newest high school and potentially their futures.

The School of Architecture and Interior Design is now officially open where they'll learn trades, earn certifications and get college prep all under one roof.

As Raven Santana reports, it's part of an effort to reimagine high school and connect young people to careers that could change their lives.

Teachers, students, and community leaders cut the ribbon on the city's newest high school, the Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design.

This state-of-the-art campus is designed with the future in mind.

Students here can choose between two pathways, one leading to careers in the building trades like plumbing, electrical work, and HVAC, the other a college-bound track in architecture and interior design.

Earning a real estate license, completing their licensure of the work that they're doing right now, the conversation that trade staff had with me about four or five years ago, saying to the superintendent, "We're aging.

Who will take these jobs?"

Ladies and gentlemen, the students of Newark School of Architecture and Interior Design will become the apprentices of our staff members.

I would be super ecstatic to see you guys in the community, in the city of Newark, in the buildings that are going up, you in those places with your hard hats on, building those buildings and saying you graduated from Newark School of Architecture and Design.

Students proudly gave me a tour showing off design labs, hands-on learning spaces, and collaborative work areas.

It's latest high school in the city to open with a higher education partner, Pratt Institute, one of the world's top design colleges, helped develop the school's curriculum.

"This is a full arrest and a full restraint system."

"We have built pathways for young people to imagine and to achieve new futures.

So this new school here extends that legacy.

And now Newark students have a powerful entry point into architecture, design, and the building industries.

One of my jobs is to recruit you all to Pratt Institute when you become an architect and interior designer.

The women-owned real estate firm Newmark Associates is also partnering with the school, helping students gain real-world experiences through internships.

My work at Newmark Associates is not solely about a livelihood.

It's a statement that in fact all those who are underserved belong at the table.

We belong on construction sites, we belong in boardrooms, we belong in negotiations and in every conversation about the future of our cities and communities.

So this school is very unique because students learn a lot of skills in different trades and in architecture for example.

So plumbing, HVAC, electricity and architecture interior design and then they get the real estate license.

They take a course to get that license.

So just that is unique but it's a lot of hands on.

So this first year they're taking survey of traits.

to all the traits so they get a feel to then select their major.

But not only that, they're exposed to architecture, safety, OSHA.

They get certified in that as well, so it's unique.

And students I spoke with say they are already exposed to the fundamentals of architecture and interior design long before they ever walk across a graduation stage.

I love architecture and interior design.

The opportunities here are amazing.

There's a lot of programs and stuff.

And they have the architecture and interior design program here, which I'm currently taking right now.

And it's incredible and I'm just loving all the opportunities here.

That will help me with my future and get more invested in what I want to do in the future.

is actually wonderful.

I d to a new school since I wi amazing and I this is real to be a doctor.

So first, to get our license and stu I want to be able to sell community backing and ind here say this school is m building.

It's a blueprint school redesign plan that programs to prepare stude passionate about.

Officia they expect enrollment to grow to more than 900 students within four years.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.

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