The Apprentice School is a four to eight-year

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

vocational school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

founded in 1919 and operated by

Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. The school trains students for careers in the

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

industry. The school announced in April of 2021 that it would begin awarding associate degrees in twenty-six maritime programs to its students beginning in 2023. Additionally, students can also earn associate degrees through a partnership with

Thomas Nelson Community College Virginia Peninsula Community College (VPCC) is a public community college with two campuses in Virginia, one in Hampton and the other in James City County. It also has two education centers The Southeast Higher Education Center in Newport News a ...

and bachelor degrees through a partnership with

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

. The school's athletic teams compete under the nickname of 'Builders' and competes with other small colleges.

History

On , the Apprentice School was established at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, by issue of Executive Order No. 24, signed by

General manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Homer L. Ferguson Homer Lenoir Ferguson (March 6, 1873 – March 14, 1953) was an author and businessman. He was president of Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia, from July 22, 1915, through July 31, 1946. Biography Ferguson w ...

. In , the school was first awarded

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the Commission on Occupational Education Institutions,

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

(OCE, SACS). In , the school transferred its accreditation from OCE, SACS to the Accrediting Commission of the Council on Occupational Education (ACCOE). On , a new Professional Development Program was started in partnership with

Admissions

Admissions is competitive at the school, although an exact admission rate is not published.

Applications Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...

are accepted on a rolling basis. Monthly selection meetings are held at which all qualified applicants are considered for available openings. Offers are extended to applicants whom the admissions office determines to be best qualified for the openings available. Successful candidates are offered both

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

at Newport News Shipbuilding and enrollment at The Apprentice School. Each successful candidate will be scheduled for a

medical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally consists of a series of questions about the patient ...

, including a

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

screening test administered by Newport News Shipbuilding's medical department. Employment and enrollment is contingent on the results of the medical examination. Candidates to whom an offer is extended will be subject to a

United States Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to

classified information Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know, ...

Academics

All apprentices are required to complete the school's "World Class Shipbuilder Curriculum" and applicable courses in the "Trade Related Education Curriculum". The

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

gives students the opportunity to earn an associate degree from

Tidewater Community College Tidewater Community College (TCC) is a public community college in South Hampton Roads, Virginia, with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach. It is part of the Virginia Community College System and is accredit ...

. Apprenticeships are offered in 17 skilled trades: * Heating & Air Conditioning *

Pipefitter A pipefitter or steamfitter is a tradesman who installs, assembles, fabricates, maintains, and repairs mechanical piping systems. Pipefitters usually begin as helpers or apprentices. Journeyman pipefitters deal with industrial/commercial/marine pi ...

- Maintenance * Painter-Insulator * Outside Machinist * Heavy Metal Fabricator * Non-Destructive Tester (NDT) * Shipfitter *

Welder In a broad sense, a welder is anyone, amateur or professional, who uses welding equipment, perhaps especially one who uses such equipment fairly often. In a narrower sense, a welder is a tradesperson who specializes in fusing materials together ...

& Welding Equipment Repair * Dimensional Control Technician *

Machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling ...

* Sheet Metal Worker * Rigger *

Electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...

* Electrician Maintenance *

Millwright A millwright is a craftsperson or skilled tradesperson who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mecha ...

Advanced programs are offered in five areas: * Marine Designer * Modeling & Simulation * Nuclear Test Technician * Production Planner * Advanced Shipyard Operations A Professional Development Program, in partnership with

, enables students to earn a bachelor's degree in electrical and mechanical engineering.

Campus

The school is physically located at Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding. Some of the upper-level academic courses are taken at Thomas Nelson Community College and Tidewater Community College. In December 2013, Newport News Shipbuilding officially opened up the new Apprentice School, located on Washington Avenue. The new facility tripled the available instructional space to include eight computer labs, two video teleconferencing classrooms, a physics lab, and a 600-seat gymnasium.

Athletics

The Apprentice School fields seven athletic teams including

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, men's and women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, men's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, and men's and women's

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

. Because it does not grant degrees, it is not affiliated with the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

or NAIA. The school competes as a member of the

United States Collegiate Athletic Association The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 nationa ...

(USCAA). The Apprentice School also holds athletic affiliation in the

National Collegiate Wrestling Association The National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) is a nonprofit association of 162 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organize the wrestling programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. ...

(NCWA). Apprentice's football team was a member of the

Atlantic Central Football Conference The Atlantic Central Football Conference (ACFC) was a college athletic conference which competed in football only in the NCAA Division III. Its member teams were located in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The conference disbanded following the 2 ...

. Since the dissolution of the conference following the 2010 season, The Apprentice School has been playing football as an unaffiliated independent team. In 2018, The Apprentice School football team joined NCFA's Mid Atlantic Conference, which is broken into East and West Division. The Apprentice School won the 2018 NCFA National Championship with a 56–14 win over Oakland University in Wheeling WV, on the campus of West Liberty University. The football program returned to an independent USCAA varsity schedule for the 2019 season.

References

External links

*
Official athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apprentice School, The USCAA member institutions Educational institutions established in 1919 1919 establishments in Virginia Private universities and colleges in Virginia