OGDEN — A ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of Ogden Technical High School, or OTECH, was held at the school building Tuesday afternoon.

Officials from the new school, Ogden-Weber Technical College and Ogden School District, as well as future OTECH students, spoke at the event. The presentation was followed by a public open house.

Ground was broken on the facility — located on the campus of Ogden-Weber Technical College, which also uses the OTECH moniker — in March 2023 and the completed building was opened last month.

Now, OTECH High School Principal Dana Nolan tells the Standard-Examiner that the institution figures to welcome roughly 115 students for classes beginning later this month.

“We’re looking forward to having our first class in the building on August the 19th. And we’re super excited about some of the community connections that we’re going to be making,” Nolan said.

OTECH High School is thought to be the first district-operated public high school program in Utah to be located on the campus of an accredited technical college.

Students attending OTECH High School will earn professional certifications from Ogden-Weber Technical College at little to no cost while also completing their required coursework for high school graduation.

“We have been awarded the Utah Prime Grant, and that’s a state grant for priming (career and technical education) programs,” Nolan said. “Part of what we will be using those monies for, our state monies, will be for our students. So, any student at Ogden Technical High School will have not only their fees paid, but their materials purchased for them.”

Nolan added that students can obtain virtually any of the professional certifications offered by Ogden-Weber Technical College via OTECH High School.

The seeds for OTECH High School were planted several years ago during conversations between former Ogden School District Superintendent Rich Nye and Ogden-Weber Technical College President Jim Taggart.

While speaking at the event, Taggart referred to OTECH High School as “Dr. Nye’s vision” and espoused the strength of the district’s continuing partnership with the college.

He also put a spotlight on the school’s “competency-based” delivery system for education.

OTECH High School’s PCBL (personalized, competency-based learning) model will essentially allow students to work at their own pace and pass courses through demonstration of mastery, as opposed to the traditional school model of assignments, quizzes and tests.

“In our personalized competency-based setting, students who want to move on and go faster may have the opportunity to do that,” added Nolan. “It’s very personalized based on the student need.”

In addition to providing students with a pathway toward professional certification upon high school graduation, OTECH High School also seeks to provide them with support outside of the classroom through its Teen Center.

“If they have needs for food, we have that. And it could be, like, take-home food. We have meal packs. We also have snack packs. And then, of course, any and all personal hygiene that they would need,” Nolan said.

Enrollment at OTECH High School is open to students throughout the district who are looking to advance their education beyond the acquisition of high school diplomas.

“For our typical students who are in grades 10 through 12, they express an interest by either reaching out to us here at school or to their school counselor or even one of their CTE teachers at their high school,” Nolan said. “From there, the only requirement that we have is that students either be seeking enrollment or be enrolled at the college.”