Newburgh Free Academy students could begin their freshman year studying the science of flight and four years later, find themselves behind the controls of an aircraft.

That is the goal of the new four-year Aviation and Flight pathway that the Newburgh Board of Education approved Thursday. The program would take participating students from introductory aviation and STEM lessons to ground school, flight simulation and potentially practical flight training.

The academy is expected to begin during the 2026-27 school year through the NFA’s Air Force Junior ROTC program and the Tuskegee Airmen-inspired Red Tail Flight Academy. The first year would operate after school, with students meeting from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays between November and May. This schedule would allow students to “pursue something highly specialized without taking them away from their regular academic program,” according to Master Sgt. Christian Granda, a JROTC instructor.

“This partnership represents much more than simply teaching students how to fly an airplane,” said Granda. “It is about creating a structured pathway that connects high school education, STEM, aviation, leadership, college, military service, and civilian career opportunities.”

The partnership would also give the district a direct connection to aviation training available at the nearby Stewart International Airport.

Carlos Rodriguez, executive director of Red Tail Flight Academy, said the organization has struggled to attract students from Newburgh despite operating only a few miles away.

“We have people driving their kids from Scarsdale up to Stewart to come to our programs, but almost nobody from Newburgh, and it’s three miles away,” Rodriguez said. “We thought that was a challenge, so we’ve been trying to do something about this for a little bit.”

The academy would begin with incoming ninth graders participating in the Air Force JROTC. Granda said that while they do not yet know how many students will be in the program, they anticipate starting with about 10 to 15 students, with 20 considered “a big hefty goal.”

During the first year of the program, students would study aero science such as aircraft systems, airspace and regulations like federal aviation regulations, along with human factors such as risk management. In order to advance to the Honors Ground School, students will need to pass an aviation knowledge test, complete a discovery flight and interview while maintaining an 85% overall GPA across all subject areas.

In years two and three, students would delve into a more advanced version of the program, learning about navigation charts, weather briefings and Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Eventually, students would develop and execute real-world flight plans for a capstone project using flight simulators, where they would put everything they learned to the test and account for a variety of factors such as the weather, aircraft performance and fuel.

Eligible students could also apply for national JROTC Flight Academy scholarships. Students who receive one of the scholarships could attend a summer aviation program at an Air Force base and return their senior year with a private pilot’s license, Granda told the board.

By the fourth and last year of the program, qualifying students could move from the simulator to an actual aircraft through practical flight instruction with Red Tail. The proposed flight training program is expected to include preflight procedures, taxiing, flight maneuvers, and cross-country flying.

“Imagine what that means for the Newburgh student, a student who may have entered high school simply interested in aviation could potentially graduate having completed a structured aviation education and gain actual flight experience,” said Granda. “This is transformational.”

But getting students into the cockpit comes with a cost.

Red Tail’s flight instruction is estimated at $285 per hour. A $2850 10-hour flight review would serve as a benchmark for student alignment and a Certified Flight Instructor endorsement, which confirms that a student has the required training and specific knowledge or skill standards.

“Our goal is to make this opportunity accessible,” said Granda. “The proposed program incorporates a scholarship-first philosophy seeking support through corporation sponsors, grants, community donors, and foundations, so that financial barriers do not determine which students are able to participate.”

Exactly how much, if anything, families could ultimately be asked to pay has not yet been determined.

The academy is not designed solely around producing pilots, according to Granda. Students would also be introduced to several career pathways such as aircraft maintenance, engineering, air traffic control, meteorology and cybersecurity.

Rodriguez said Red Tail’s goal is to help young people find a pathway into the aviation industry, regardless of whether they ultimately become pilots.

“Our primary goal is to help kids, place them inside the aviation industry in a way that they can actually change their lives, trajectory, as well as families,” said Rodriguez.