BESSEMER, Ala. (WBRC) – With help from community leaders, a new charter school is coming to Bessemer next year – one designed to give students a unique head start in both education and the workforce.
The Invictus Career Institute and Regional Workforce Development Center will focus on preparing students for careers in the workforce, specifically health care, while also addressing the industry’s critical labor shortages. Organizers say the school has been nearly three years in the making.
Chris Anderson, executive director of the Lifting As We Climb Foundation, said the project is a partnership between the institute and his nonprofit organization. The goal is to connect students with hands-on training and mentorship opportunities from some of the metro area’s largest health care providers.
“The inaugural class will start off with sixth graders with about 75 students and then ninth graders with the same amount, 75 students, and we’ll progressively add students as we move forward,” Anderson said.
Invictus CEO Harriette Thompkins said location was no accident. “Bessemer is strategic. Again, providing that high quality school option in Bessemer so that students can have options for a quality education,” she said.
The school’s planned home is the original UAB Medical West facility in Bessemer. It is expected to open for the 2026-27 school year. Those interested in registering a student can find more information here.
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