Hello prospective students and parents/guardians!

The Burton Center for Arts and Technology (BCAT or Burton), is a place of infinite possibilities! BCAT is considered a "specialty school" and is full of gifted students and staff. Burton takes applications from students from all five Roanoke County high schools (we call them "base schools") and selects them to be placed in classes or programs that are of high interest to them. We take those student interests and aim to propel them to a successful career in their chosen field - having them "Opportunity Ready" for a bright future!

This campus has undergone several transformations since the first building was constructed in 1962, when this setting was known as the Roanoke County Education Center. There were only four programs, two of which (Cosmetology and Auto Mechanics) are still around today! Slowly, the campus began adding more buildings and more programs. Almost 60 years later, the campus has grown with the addition of two more buildings and has expanded to over 20 areas of instructional and skill specialty. We have also grown from serving approximately 300 students to serving over 900 with our current schedule. We have students that enjoy our programs for one year in addition to students that stay all four years of their high school career.

BCAT is a special place because the students choose to be here with us and because the students are chosen by us to be here. This specialty school has such an impressive diversity of talent amongst our students and staff - and we make it work every single day. We hear parents tell us all the time, "I wish there was something like this back when I was in high school!"

Please take the time to look at the various programs by visiting the Programs tab. Each program should have a brief video as well as some other information that may include potential career pathways, certifications available in the program, and the background of the instructor.

What follows is important information to know before applying to attend Burton. Students at BCAT are instructed in "Super Blocks", meaning their instructional time is greater than a regular block at the high school level. Students taking classes in the morning are here from 7:30am to 10:50am. Students taking afternoon classes do so from 12:25pm to 2:55pm. Students take other required classes (such as math, English, science, social studies and other electives) at their base school. All parents and students should be aware that transportation directly from the home to BCAT is not provided. For morning classes, it is the family's responsibility to transport students from home to the base school for a morning shuttle to BCAT.

Parents are also welcome to drop their student off in the morning. For afternoon classes, students will be transported after lunch from the base school to BCAT. Special transportation for students with disabilities will only be provided to and from the base school for special education programs. All students are able to take the shuttle to and from base schools and BCAT.

We highly recommend you apply to be part of this special place! The deeper learning you will experience, the hard work that will be expected of you and the friends you will make are all part of what makes Burton such a sought after school setting.

Information on how to apply is available on this website, on the “Applications and Forms” section at the top of this page. Applications for the 2023-2024 school year open on October 1, 2023 and close on Jan 15, 2024.