The Valley welcomed a brand new school on Thursday, STEM Academy.

The new STEM Plus ME-2 Academy at MCCTC hosted their ribbon cutting and gave the community its first glimpse inside. It is the only STEM-designated school in the Valley and only one of 19 in the state. 

The school, located in Canfield, features nearly half a million dollars worth of specialized fabrication equipment. As well a method of teaching that ditches the textbooks and lets students pick up real world skills.

“The equipment is part of it and an exciting feature, but the actual way were educating is going to be real world skills, problem based learning and we're teaching kids the skills they need that are transferable across any job that they could possibly get, whether they go straight to the workforce or go straight to college,” said Stem Academy Director Mara Banfield

The Academy is accepting 100 freshmen and 100 sophomores for its fall classes.