Metro High School – Columbus, OH
High Tech High – San Diego, CA
McKinley Technology High School – Washington, D.C.
George Washington Carver School of Applied Technology, Engineering and the Arts – Houston, TX 
The Denver School of Science and Technology – Denver, CO

 

 

www.themetroschool.com

Metro High School opened in 2006.  It is a small public school for grades 9 through 12 that emphasizes college readiness in math, science and technology. The school is unique in that 11th and 12th graders will participate in hands-on, self-directed learning outside the classroom with teachers and mentors from the community. This includes independent research projects, group projects with other students and community internships at “learning centers” around the community.

Metro High School is in its first year of operation and is the result of a unique partnership between Battelle, the Ohio State University and the Education Council, which is a consortium of sixteen Columbus area school districts.  Students are selected via lottery from the sixteen participating school districts.  The school is located on the campus of the Ohio State University.

The learning experience is divided into two distinct developmental phases:  Core Preparation and College Readiness.  In 9th and 10th grades, the student experience focuses on learning that promotes performance and mastery of a foundation curriculum. Students must meet high performance standards in mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts to advance. Students must also pass the Ohio Graduation Tests as well as demonstrate the ability to work both independently and in collaborative environments, and to investigate solutions to real world problems.

In the 11th and 12th grade, students learn from educational experiences away from the school’s campus with the objective of developing the student’s capacity for successful college work. The curriculum offers unique and relevant educational experiences through a series of learning centers located in settings across the central Ohio community. These experiences will be more than traditional internships by ensuring the student engages in problem solving, critical thinking and creative innovation.

 

 

 

www.hightechhigh.org

High Tech High opened in 2000. The school’s mission is to provide students with rigorous and relevant academic and workplace skills, preparing its graduates for success in an increasingly technological society.  The primary goals of High Tech High are: the integration of technical and academic education, preparing students for post-secondary education and for leadership in the high technology industry; increasing the number of educationally disadvantaged students in math and engineering who succeed in high school and post-secondary education; and graduating students who will be thoughtful, engaged citizens who are prepared to take on the difficult leadership challenges of the 21st century.

High Tech High combats the twin problems of student disengagement and low academic achievement by creating personalized, project-based learning environments where all students are known and challenged to meet high expectations.

High Tech High’s model emphasizes small school size, small classes, real-world immersion, and performance-based assessment. Because of a focus on a personalized learning environment and hands-on work, the organization’s schools have classrooms and labs that allow each student a dedicated computer workstation for half of each day.

 

 

McKinley Technology High School
Washington, D.C.

http://mths.k12.dc.us

McKinley Technology High School opened in 2004. The school offers a learning environment that utilizes technology to support academic achievement. Teachers and students engage in project based curriculum that has the rigor of a first class liberal arts education and the job skills development of a technical program. McKinley Technology High School provides students  opportunities to pursue an intense focus in bio-medical technology, information technology and broadcast technology.

McKinley Technology High School combines a rigorous curriculum with an emphasis in specific technology disciplines.  Students are required to master a rigorous foundation curriculum that includes: four years of English composition and literature, four years of mathematics, U.S., District of Columbia, and world history, biology, chemistry, physics, one or more foreign languages, the performing arts, and physical education. The school uses an innovative real-world framework to embed relevance in the curriculum. Students learn course content through demanding individual and group projects that aim to address real-world problems, and develop technology skills as the vehicles for project research and presentation delivery. Community professionals assist in project development and the assessment of student project performance.

Bio-medical technology, information technology and broadcast communications are the key areas of technology specialization. In the 9th and 10th grades, students acquire basic technology skills in these three focus areas and others by embedding the skills in the core content. In the 11th and 12th grades, students choose specific technology disciplines for advanced study and internship opportunities. In addition, McKinley offers traditional Advanced Placement academic courses and dual credit options for students who desire to begin their post-secondary education while still in high school.