The Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) is not your typical high school program. Originally launched by Blue Valley School District in Overland, Kansas, the CAPS model flips the traditional classroom experience on its head, immersing learners in experiential learning and enabling them to explore career pathways in very practical ways. At its core, CAPS isn’t just about preparing learners for a career—it’s about helping them discover who they are.

What began as a local innovation has grown into a national and international network: from five original institutions to over 120 affiliate programs across 25 states, and even a presence in Canada, Kuwait, and Kenya, overseen by the CAPS Network. The model, offered to junior and senior high school learners, focuses on learner-driven “profession-based learning,” embedding intentional connections to employers and professional partners to help learners build professional skills in a consistent way.

The Blue Valley CAPS (BVCAPS) program, the flagship CAPS institution, prioritizes self-discovery and learner agency. They leverage partnerships with postsecondary institutions and industry to offer simulated and in-person learning experiences that help learners figure out their talents, what they enjoy, and what they want to explore further. BVCAPS is focused on giving learners exposure to career opportunities without the pressure of serving as a direct talent pipeline for business partners.

The success of BVCAPS lies in its deep employer engagement. While career exploration courses are generally built through collaboration between educators, institutions, and industry professionals, employers play a key role in the creation and ongoing implementation of CAPS courses. Honeywell, for example, one of BVCAPS’ employer partners, offers career fairs, internships, and job shadowing, as well as more intensive internship opportunities for learners. Another employer partner is embedded in the school, piloting and beta testing the development of an app focused on career acceleration, and equipping learners with technical and essential skills.

BVCAPS also engages employers through collaborative curriculum development, teacher externships, and initiatives such as their teacher education workstream, an organization-wide priority. Pioneered by Honeywell, the teacher education workstream builds stronger links between education and the workforce by helping provide instructor support and demonstrating real-world skills that can be brought back to in-class instruction. BVCAPS makes it clear that employer participation is primarily about exposure for the learners, not recruitment. Still, many employers—like Honeywell—report a strong return on investment through well-trained interns and positive brand visibility with young talent.

Employer engagement at BVCAPS is expanded through multiple innovative steps that can be replicated or incorporated elsewhere. General outreach and partnership development is supported by a dedicated Business Development Specialist, employed by BVCAPS, who ensures partnerships between employers, faculty, and learners are authentic and mutually beneficial. BVCAPS instructors also have dedicated time built into their planning and professional development to allow them to find, foster, and strengthen new and existing partnerships with employers and other community organizations. 

Learners enrolled in BVCAPS spend about 2.5 hours per day in their CAPS program, choosing the experience as an elective in their junior or senior years. Since BVCAPS courses count as electives, learners who want to enroll in the CAPS program in their junior and senior years must fulfill their graduation requirement in other ways, and they often take online classes during the summer to do so.

What do learners get in return? A unique space for trial and error, specifically designed to expose learners to a wide variety of career-oriented experiences in a given industry in direct partnership with employers, with varied activities aligned to careers within the sector. Whether they are supporting patients in simulated healthcare settings, working with engineers, or pitching business ideas, learners get to explore career paths in a low-stakes, high-impact environment.

They gain more than just technical skills. They learn how to collaborate, tell their stories, and even write compelling college application essays that detail their experiences. Learners speak about developing an appreciation for the experiences of others, breaking down stereotypes (like what nurses really do), and discovering how to articulate the importance of their work to people outside their field. Because each program is intentionally built with employer partners as a core component, learners are treated as adults starting a career, rather than learners in a classroom, expanding learner autonomy and agency and building confidence and excitement for their future. 

Running a program as ambitious as BVCAPS does not come without logistical and structural realities. 

Transportation: Although BVCAPS is currently only available at the secondary level, one of the primary obstacles to expanding it to middle schools is transportation. Like many other career centers, transportation issues limit access for middle school learners who might benefit from early exposure. 

Scheduling and Graduation Requirements: Learners still need to meet graduation requirements, and not all can commit to CAPS for multiple semesters. Building a schedule that allows for flexibility often involves reverse engineering the traditional high school model, including offering core classes online. 

Self-Directed Approach: Learners used to structured, traditional learning can struggle to adjust to the self-directed, project-based approach BVCAPS offers.

Instructor Recruitment: Success hinges on motivated instructors—often professionals from industry who team up with experienced educators to design courses, manage classrooms, and coach learners. Recruitment can be tough, but BVCAPS offers flexibility, professional development (often through institutional partnerships), and the option for instructors to continue practicing in their field.

Perhaps the most powerful outcome of BVCAPS isn’t just a stronger resume—it’s the language learners gain to tell their story. Whether they’re writing essays, presenting capstone projects, or navigating future interviews, they leave the program with a clear understanding of what they’ve done, what it meant, and why it matters.

BVCAPS continues to collect alumni reflections through its Alumni Impact Report, using learner voices to guide future iterations of the program. Demonstrating the value of the CAPS program, 72% of alumni surveyed report that their CAPS experience directly contributed to their current success. Over 1,000 former CAPS learners have contributed feedback so far, helping ensure the model stays grounded in the changing needs of today’s learners.

With its focus on professional-based learning, industry collaboration, and learner self-discovery, BVCAPS offers an alternative blueprint for how Career Technical Education (CTE) could be further integrated into the traditional secondary education model. 

Visit the BVCAPS website to learn more about the model. For resources connected to designing and communicating career pathways. visit Advance CTE’s Learning that Works Resource Center.