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Student and Teacher at New Technology High School


Schools I Like

What would the kids say if we asked them what kind of school they'd like? That's what England's Guardian newspaper did in June when they reprised a public competition first conducted in 1967, in which kids across England wrote essays about "The school that I'd like" (edited by Edward Blishen, Penguin Education Special, England, 1969). One 15-year old girl summed up school at that time as "institutions of today run on the principles of yesterday". Has anything changed?

The criteria articulated by the English and American kids, The Schools We'd Like, constitute appropriate Design Criteria for the new high school: Safe, Respect, Personal, Interests, Experience, Real World, Workspace, Tools.

What schools do I like? My jobs at the American Federation of Teachers and the Autodesk Foundation took me all over the country looking at interesting schools. In the early 1990's I became the de facto travel agent for people looking for the most innovative schools to visit? Want to see the list from 1993? It's a kind of "what happenned to them now"?

So below are the schools that I like, in the new millenium. This list will be expanded over time, but here's a start:

High Schools

2009 : Manor New Technology High School

2009 : Sacramento New Technology High School

2009 : Tech Valley High School

Napa New Technology High School (NTHS)

Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center

High Tech High

Sir Francis Drake High School, San Anselmo, CA: See Drake Academics, Academy X Projects, SeaDisc Academy, Student Projects, Virtual Tour.

Boston: Fenway High School, Boston Arts Academy, TechBoston Academy, Boston Office of High School Renewal

UK Secondary Schools: Ninestiles School, Birmingham; Homewood School, Tenterden, Kent; Maplesden Noakes School, Maidstone, Kent; Hugh Christie Technology College, Tonbridge, Kent; New Line Learning, Kent.

Middle Schools

Middle School Whole School Reform Links

Elementary Schools

Alice Carlson

Tule Elk

Brookside