Fairfax County Public Schools ACE launches over 250 new training, certification programs for adult learners

By Emily Richardson, InsideNoVa

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Fairfax, VA – August 5, 2024 – Fairfax County Public Schools Adult and Community Education is launching more than 250 new courses for the trades, construction, IT and health care.

The new courses include in-person, hybrid and asynchronous offerings in line with the program’s focus on “new collar” workforce development, according to a school system news release. New collar defines high-paying professions that combine technical skills with specialized education rather than a four-year degree. Those roles are found in industries with high demand for workers in Northern Virginia — especially the trades, health care and technology — according to Paul Steiner, head administrator of FCPS Adult and Community Education, also known as ACE.

The program’s employer partners are “putting more emphasis and value on skills and experiences, rather than a four-year degree,” Steiner said in the release.

Some of the new offerings in the trades focus on green technology, he said, with more to come. The program now offers a course preparing students for a certification in green construction practices. A new set of courses focuses on solar panel installation.

“If you want to be a solar installer, it involves the skilled trades,” Steiner told InsideNoVa. “That’s a good blending of this new technology and what we currently offer with skilled trade apprenticeship.”

Other new offerings expand the program’s IT certification courses, Steiner said, including courses on A+ and Network+, two common credentials for entry-level IT work. The courses prepare students for the certification and include a voucher for the certification test.

Fairfax’s ACE also now offers more courses in Python, a popular programming language, as well as a course on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Many of the new courses can be taken completely online and self-paced. “Online Anytime” courses seek to lower barriers to access, Steiner said, especially for learners who already work full-time jobs or may not have easy access to one of the 10 Fairfax County schools where in-person ACE classes are held.

Anthony Glasgow, an electrical trades instructor for ACE, says the trade fields are wide open — you just need to know where you want to go. And ACE programs can help, he said.

Glasgow received his license and journeyman certification through the ACE program. In addition to teaching, he works as a project manager for Fairfax County.

“I tell my students, ‘You have other avenues,'” Glasgow told InsideNoVa. “You can become a project manager, you can start your own business. It’s beneficial to everyone who wants to go through it and learn from it.”

Glasgow said some of his students have started their own businesses. Part of the electrical coursework teaches students how to manage projects and communicate with clients, he said.

The main funding sources for ACE programs are federal grants and tuition paid by participants, county agencies and local businesses, according to the most recent Fairfax County Public Schools budget. Steiner said the program partners with employers who will pay their employees’ tuition in job-related coursework as part of their benefits.

Registration for ACE programming is open to the public and not limited to Fairfax County residents, Steiner said. Though some courses require pre-screening tests, such as health and medical courses, there is no formal application process.

Tuition varies between course subjects and modalities. The lowest individual courses begin at $169, according to the release, while a self-paced, 12-month course on electrical maintenance goes for $2,360. The ACE Training and Scholarship Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, awards between 25 and 35 need-based scholarships to students per quarter, which can be used to defray the cost of tuition, according to Steiner.

The new FCPS ACE asynchronous course offerings are already available for registration online, Steiner said.

The Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Adult and Community Education program (ACE) is the leading provider of flexible, affordable, outcome-oriented classes to promote learning at any stage in life. We offer more than 3,000 courses in a wide range of subjects that empower students of all ages and backgrounds to explore options for after high school graduation, gain valuable technical training, advance their careers with relevant skills, or enhance their lives with a range of personal interest classes. Our students and their success are what drives FCPS ACE. With more than 60 years of history and a deep connection to the local community, FCPS ACE is for you.