Virginia Launches Aerospace Academy of Eastern Shore Lab School

RICHMOND, Va. — Northampton and Accomack counties launched a new program in late August that will help public high school students prepare for a career in the aerospace industry.

The Aerospace Academy of the Eastern Shore Lab School will provide students with networking skills, portfolio development, and experiential learning opportunities as they engage in regional aerospace initiatives.

Eastern Shore Community College and Old Dominion University are the higher education partners. Chincoteague, Northampton, Arcadia and Nandua high schools are the K-12 partners.

Students can participate all four years of high school. Freshmen and sophomores take cyber, engineering and computer science classes at the high schools, and juniors and seniors take courses at ESCC.

Once the students become juniors and seniors, the program provides two options for students. Students who take the Aerospace Engineering and Explorations route will earn an associate degree and those who pursue Aerospace Technology will receive a technician certificate.

Students will also learn about engineering fundamentals, entrepreneurship and computer science skills, in addition to gaining college math and English credits. Community college students will also have the opportunity to take aerospace courses.

“It’s a very exciting opportunity for not just the students that get to experience it, but the schools and the community around it,” said Rachel White, Aerospace Academy of the Eastern Shore program executive director.

Virginia students are chosen by a lottery system because of legislation the state approved, according to White. The first 50 students that enter into the lottery get accepted. Extra students are added to the waitlist and their acceptance is determined by the date and time they apply. AAES will add more students to the program in January 2026 if spots are available.

The academy is at the right location, according to White. NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility is on the Eastern Shore and hosts the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and the new Rocket Lab Launch Complex.

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore. (Photo courtesy of MARS)

“It’s such a booming area, and the school divisions creating a pipeline for students to be able to just directly go into the field, I think, is ideal,” White said.

The launch of the academy is an incredible opportunity for Virginia, according to Gary Skeen, associate director for the Center of Education Innovation and Opportunity at Old Dominion University.

“Really Old Dominion University is creating a full K-12 STEM pipeline and really trying to position ourselves as the STEM capital of the East Coast,” Skeen said.

ODU has four college partnership lab schools and are fiscal partners with five more, according to Skeen. Faculty members help train and write the curriculums.

“The space industry is currently at a point where it’s really growing,” Skeen said. “It’s really becoming a moving part of the economy across the nation.”

Although the aerospace workforce is slated to grow in coming years, federal cuts have impacted NASA. Over 2,100 senior ranking staff employees agreed to leave NASA through federal administration efforts to trim the federal workforce, according to a July Politico report. NASA currently employs almost 18,000 civil servants, according to its website.

“We need many students pursuing careers in the aerospace industry,” said Karen Sanzo, executive director for the ODU Center of Education Innovation and Opportunity. “I think in Virginia, it is going to be a thriving industry.”

Students participating in the academy will have the chance to complete a Virginia Community College System passport program, which is a set of course blocks designed to satisfy lower-division general education requirements at state public colleges and universities.

The program opens a gateway to the future, Gov. Glenn Youngkin stated in a press release.

“These students will be immersed in Virginia’s aerospace sector and launch into careers that will shape the skies and beyond,” Youngkin stated. “Our mission since day one has been not only to prepare students for the future, but to empower them to lead it.”

By Dan Elson/VCU Capital News Service

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