High
Tech High
San Diego's
High Tech High (HTH) opened in 2000 and is now in its second year.
The school was conceived by and launched by a coalition of over
40 public and corporate partners led by Qualcomm that were part
of a San Diego Chamber of Commerce task force. The task force met
over two years focusing on developing a new high school education
commensurate with San Diego's transformation from a military-dominated
economy to an emerging high tech regional economy, led by telecommunications
and biotechnology.
High Tech High
is a public charter high school with a diverse student population
that mirrors the San Diego Unified School District. The school opened
with 200 students in 9th and 10th grades, now has 300 students,
and will reach 400 students in grades 9-12 at full enrollment next
year.
HTH brings to
life its design principles of Personalization, Intellectual Mission,
Adult World Immersion, and Performance-Based Student Work &
Assessment through its size and school organization, its facilities,
its program, and its technology.
When you walk
into High Tech High you feel like you're in a workplace. The main
section of the school, the Great Room, has a very high ceiling above
the student workstation suites. Classrooms, which HTH calls seminar
rooms, look different as well, with flexible furniture and Smart
Boards on the wall. Not a lot of teachers are presenting in this
environment. Mostly it's the students who present their work and
ideas.
Four physical
structures provide a sense of place and identity to HTH students:
- Workstation
suites, where they have their own personal computer.
- Project Studios,
where as part of a team they can plan and construct 3-D models
- Construction
Labs (Biocom Technology Lab, Animation Lab, Engineering Lab)
- Meeting/presentation
spaces for visiting lecturers, mentors, and site supervisors
For More Information
on High Tech High:
- High
Tech High web site ; High
Tech Middle School
- High
School Will Never Be the Same, Business Week, August 28, 2000.
This article features High Tech High
- Governor
Davis's press release on his visit to High Tech High October
26, 2000, for the HTH dedication
- San
Diego Charter School a Model for Technology Leaders, New York
Times, November 1, 2000
- Gates
foots bill for tech high schools: Concept behind High Tech High
gains hefty foundation support, San Diego Union Tribune, November
15, 2000
- High
Tech High Receives $6.4 Million from the Bill & Melinda Foundation
to support the development of technology high schools designed
to help all students achieve, Gates Foundation Press Release,
November 14, 2000
- High
Tech High: cutting edge, by Maureen Magee, Staff Writer, San
Diego Union-Tribune, September 26, 2000
- High
Tech High: An Education Startup,
by Amy Poftak, Technology & Learning, October 15, 2001
Replication
High Tech High is one of three new small high schools that have
been funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support
their replication in ten sites each across the United States. If
your school, district, or community is interested in replicating
this model, contact:
Larry Rosenstock
CEO/Principal
619-243-5011
lrosenstock@hightechhigh.org
|
HTH's Great Room and
Workstation Suites