If you like taking things apart to see how they work and are interested in how buildings are heated and ventilated, the High School for Energy and Technology might be the school for you.

Staff will train students for careers in engineering and building technology, including jobs working with heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in this Career and Technical Education school.

“We don’t have people who have the skills to maintain and operate the very complicated building systems we have today,” said John Shea, who is on the school’s planning team and who also leads the Division of School Facilities for the Department of Education. He will help students find internships with the DOE and local unions.

The school is scheduled to open in fall 2012 in the building housing Grace Dodge Career and Technical High School, which is being phased out for poor performance.

Principal Ignazio Accardi has solid teaching and administrative experience. He was a social studies teacher for seven years at Robert F. Wagner Jr. Institute for Arts and Technology in Long Island City. At Long Island City High School he served as assistant principal of social studies and of guidance.

Small advisory groups will meet three times a week for social and academic support. “Personalization is key and advisors are at the heart of that,” Accardi said.

Partnerships look promising. They include the School Construction Authority, the Institute for Student Achievement and the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) at Columbia University.

Students will be expected to earn a CTE-endorsed Regents diploma, which has more requirements than a regular Regents diploma. The focus of the school is on preparing students for career and college, and online Advanced Placement courses will be offered as the school grown, Accardi said.

Admissions: Priority to Bronx students or residents who attend an information session, fair or open house. (Lydie Raschka, March 2012, interviews at the high school fair)