Two Baltimore City schools are now a part of a prestigious program. It's called Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools or PTECH.
Friday, the community celebrated its launch with the governor, mayor and education leaders.
Carver and Dunbar high schools are the first schools in the state to offer this six year program.
IBM created the initiative in 2011.
Since then, the tech powerhouse partnered with Johns Hopkins and state and city leaders to make this happen here.
Governor Larry Hogan joined the community and most importantly students for Friday's event.
The PTECH program allows students to spend six years in high school which includes two years of college level learning.
The students are mentored by professionals in the stem fields. Then, the kids can apply for paid summer internships.
PTECH is designed to give students real world experience in preparation for technology, computer and health sciences. Once they graduate, they'll have both a high school diploma and associate's degree.
"I just wish we could help more kids. This is just the start. These are the first two and it's just a trial but i want t see it spread. We have six of them already in the works across the state but we want to do a lot more. I think it's really going to be a tremendous program to help kids that really need the help the most," Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, told ABC2.
The plan is to expand next year to four more Maryland schools---two in Prince George's County and one each in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore.
