The Academy of Technology and Innovation at the University of Mary Washington (ATI-UMW) opened its doors to its first cohort of high-schoolers last month, but yesterday’s dedication ceremony made it official.

“What you all will do is provide the leadership of tomorrow, and the commonwealth is so much better because of it,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told students and their families who gathered, along with legislators, community officials, school board members and more, at the new regional lab school on UMW’s Stafford Campus. “You all are taking on a moment of acceleration in your lives, and that is what gets us so excited, not because of what we’re doing today but what we anticipate you all will do tomorrow … I can’t wait to see where you all will lead Virginia.”

Youngkin joined students in cutting the ceremonial ribbon, recognizing the inaugural year of the regional lab school that welcomed 80 ninth-graders from the City of Fredericksburg, as well as Caroline, King George, Orange and Stafford counties on the first day of classes last month. A string of speakers at the afternoon event praised partnerships, perseverance and the courage to say “yes” for bringing the vision to reality.

“This school is not a school that any one person has been a part of, but it is a school that our entire community has helped to create,” said ATI-UMW Executive Director Rebecca Towery. “I cannot thank our families and our students enough for being willing to take this leap with us and see not only the potential for benefit now but the potential for benefit to our community for years to come.” Read more.
The University of Mary Washington is a premier, selective public liberal arts and sciences university in Virginia, highly respected for its commitment to academic excellence, strong undergraduate liberal arts and sciences program, and dedication to life-long learning. The university, with a total enrollment of about 4,000, features colleges of business, education and arts and sciences, and three campuses, including a residential campus in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a second one in nearby Stafford and a third in Dahlgren, Virginia, which serves as a center of development of educational and research partnerships between the Navy, higher education institutions and the region’s employers.