Miami-Dade County Public Schools Holds Ribbon-Cutting for Dental Assisting Program at Miami Northwestern High School

Pictured left to right, counterclockwise: Facilities and equipment showcased at Miami Northwestern Senior High’s new Dental Assisting Program, including a fully equipped dental lab, orthodontic tools, and models.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) hosted a ribbon-cutting at Miami Northwestern Senior High School, celebrating the start of the school’s Career Dual Enrollment Dental Assisting Program for the 2025-26 school year.  

“Students are learning with a teacher from Miami Lakes Educational Center and Technical College,” said Dr. Cadian Collman-Perez, District Director at the Office of Postsecondary Career and Technical Education. “They’ll be able to walk into a dental office right out of high school and get a job as a dental assistant.”

This program, in partnership with Miami Lakes Educational Center and Technical College, allows students to earn industry certification and gain hands-on experience in the dental field while attending high school.

Sixty students will be in the program in the fall, but the goal is to enroll as many as 90 in subsequent years. Students take classes from ninth through tenth grade, and they get to practice the skills of actual dental assistants, performing routine dental cleanings, assisting with complex dental procedures, and processing X-rays.  

At the end of the school year, students take a state exam to earn their dental assistant certification and be ready to work.

Pictured left to right, counterclockwise: Orthodontic models and tools, professional dental equipment, and promotional signage showcasing student opportunities to work alongside real dentists while still in high school.

“We’re very excited about this program because it gives our students options before graduation,” said Northwestern Assistant Principal Xavier Riddick. “They don’t have to go to college. They can finish high school and go straight to work, earning $46,000 a year and starting with a new career.”

Two classrooms have been designed to emulate a dentist’s office, complete with three dental chairs equipped with water blowers and computers connected to two x-ray machines. The X-ray machines are designed to capture a 360-degree view of a patient’s mouth.

Miami Lakes Educational Center and Technical College provided all the equipment, funded by a $400,000 CAP Grant (Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive Grant) from the Florida Department of Education.

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