Henrico High School to host new Center for Cybersecurity in 2026

Henrico Schools is set to open its 16th high school specialty center, the Center for Cybersecurity at Henrico High School, for freshmen in the fall of 2026.

HCPS leaders decided to create the new center after seeing a high demand for information technology programming in the county and high job growth nationwide in the IT sector, said Taylor Snow, HCPS Director of Teaching and Learning 

More than 15% of high school students in Henrico are enrolled in a specialty center – a four-year program focused on a specific subject area or industry. Eighth grade students from any part of the county can apply to any center, and if accepted will attend that center’s high school and take core classes as well.

Since establishing the first specialty center in 1990, HCPS has seen demand for specialty centers grow almost every year. This past application season saw over 3,000 applicants for the 15 centers, prompting HCPS to increase the number of seats accepted each year by each center to 75 for the Class of 2027 and the Class of 2028.

HCPS has also worked to significantly increase the diversity of student enrollment in specialty centers so it better reflects the county’s diversity, said Snow. 

“Our goal is to ensure that our specialty centers reflect the diversity of our county,” he said. “And we are quite close to ensuring that specialty center enrollment across the county closely reflects HCPS enrollment by demographic group as a whole.”

Henrico High’s future cybersecurity center

In the new Center for Cybersecurity, students will take classes in foundational cybersecurity programming, global citizenship and ethics, comparative government, and data science, and will earn their CompTIA Security+ certification by their senior year. 

The first class of 50 students will start in the fall of 2026, and then seats will expand to 75 per class.

The certification will allow students access to mid-level cybersecurity jobs after graduation and put them on track to securing other high-paying IT jobs, with jobs in the IT sector currently paying a median salary of $120,000.

“I can’t say it enough, I’m super thrilled about cybersecurity at Henrico High,” said Ryan Young, who represents the Fairfield District on the Henrico School Board. “They can actually enter the workforce upon leaving high school, and I just pulled up indeed.com just to see what a Security+ certification pays, and it looks like the median is around $60,000. And that’s right out of high school.”

HCPS already has two other IT programs – the Center for Information Technology at Deep Run High and a two-year cybersecurity program at the Advanced Career Education Center at Highland Springs High – but the new cybersecurity center will take a different approach, said Snow. The center will offer a “niche focus” within the field of computer science and a “specific and behind-the-scenes focus” on cybersecurity, he said.

The first class of 50 students will start in the fall of 2026, and then seats will expand to 75 per class. New technology and equipment for the center has been included in the proposed 2025-2026 HCPS budget, and HCPS leaders have begun working with higher education institutions to see if center courses can include a dual enrollment credit.

Eliminating barriers to specialty centers

Each of the 15 specialty centers saw an increase in applicants over this past year, said Snow, illustrating the high demand in the county for specialized programs.

“I think the thing that’s the biggest draw is just the specialized experience,” he said. “Whether that’s about a smaller cohort or just about access to some classes that, for lack of a better way to put it, are just really cool and really unique.”

But the diversity of applicants has also increased, Snow said, to similar demographics of the county as a whole. Henrico Schools’ student body is about 35% Black, 32% white, 13% Asian, 13% Hispanic, and 6% multiple races.

“We want to continue to level the playing field so that everyone has the same entry point to the application, so that it truly reflects student ability.”

In the summer of 2023, HCPS leaders mapped out a plan for the next three years to increase specialty center enrollment and access through “targeted recruitment and outreach efforts.”

“We sought to focus on equity by expanding access to seats at specialty centers and removing pre-existing barriers to access,” Snow said. “We have also critically examined our application process to identify barriers to access and have sought to remove those barriers.”

All specialty center applications have now been streamlined into one application process, similar to the Common Application for college admissions, and the application has been translated into five different languages. HCPS has also increased attendance for specialty center information sessions by hundreds of participants through adding more weekend options.

The division also created an annual specialty center fair for seventh graders – specifically for students identified by school counseling teams as having interest in the centers but requiring more support or guidance.

But some barriers still remain – transportation can still be a struggle for families. Specialty center students report having to wake up at very early times to take two different buses because they are attending a school out of their neighborhood, said school board Varina District representative Alicia Atkins.

And some families have expressed concerns that some students may perform better on the essay portion of the application due to outside help or resources, according to school board chair and Tuckahoe District representative Marcie Shea, who asked HCPS leaders to ensure that all assessments and essays related to the application would be administered during school hours.

“I get quite a bit of feedback and frustration with parents who, whether it’s accurate or not, have concerns that some other students may have utilized tutors or whatever else to help assist with editing or constructing their essay,” Shea said. “We want to continue to level the playing field so that everyone has the same entry point to the application, so that it truly reflects student ability.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.