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HTHL Internship and College Advising Institute HTH and HTHI Annual MANPOWER Academic Internship Showcase
October 15, 2005
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HTHL Network NewsIn Issue #5, July/August 2004  1. 135
Attend HTH Summer InstituteIn June, HTH affiliates and other interested parties-135 educators in all-convened at the Third Annual HTH Summer Institute in San Diego to share practices, discuss common issues, and engage in next-steps planning around the conference theme: How do we meet the needs of all students through rigorous project-based learning? Two distinguished keynoters addressed the Institute. On Monday, June 21, Yee- Ann Cho, Senior Program Officer, Education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discussed the Foundation's Strategies for New Small School Creation. The following morning, Richard C. Atkinson, President Emeritus of the University of California, spoke about "Implications of the New SAT for K-12 Education." Both keynotes were followed by lively question and answer sessions. Beyond the keynotes and site presentations by HTH affiliate schools, the Institute featured three types of workshop sessions: Practitioner presentations addressed issues of design and practice, including Digital Portfolio, Project-Based Learning for Beginners, Cross-walking PBL to Standards, Student Advisory Program, and others. Roundtable sessions took the form of facilitated discussions, rather than presentations, on common issues regarding the needs of ELL students, Math and Project-Based Learning (PBL), and addressing the needs of students with low skills through PBL Jobalike sessions. Job-alike sessions offered persons in particular jobs or roles (e.g., administrators, board members, math and science teachers, community liaisons) the opportunity to meet with peers from the other sites. Reflecting the growth of the HTH network, this year's Institute was the largest by far, including representatives of the following sites/organizations: HTH Network Schools Camino Nuevo (Los Angeles) City High School (Tucson, AZ) High Tech Middle-San Diego High Tech High-Los Angeles High Tech High-San Diego High Tech International-San Diego MAST Charter School (NM) Mirta Ramirez Computer Science Charter School (Chicago) New Bedford Global Learning Charter School (MA) New Urban High School (North Clackamas, OR) San Carlos High School (CA) Sci-Tech High (Harrisburg, PA) Schools from the CSAC Network, State of Washington Dayton High School Quincy High Tech High San Diego Public Schools Morse High School Hoover High School Kearny High School (School of Science Connections and Technology) San Diego High (School of Science and Technology) Other Schools and Organizations Desert Mountain SELPA Gabbinbar State School (Australia) Harristown State High School (Australia) National Governors Association Rainbow Advanced Institute for Learning South Shore High School (Chicago) Surf Tech Charter School University of California/San Diego  2. High
Tech High Learning Completes SQR Review ProcessHigh Tech High Learning (HTHL) is committed to ensuring that network affiliates deliver improved student outcomes and demonstrate successful implementation of the essential design elements of High Tech High (HTH). As part of the process of becoming an affiliate of the HTHL Network, affiliate sites and HTHL enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which contains a provision calling for affiliate schools to participate in the School Quality Review Process (SQR). The SQR process includes a Self-Study written by school staff, and a site visit conducted by HTHL staff. The site visits consist of:
This year, all five schools operational within the HTHL Network participated in the SQR process. San Carlos High School, New Urban High School, New Bedford Global Learning Charter School and High Tech High were all extended Provisional Accreditation without qualification. Mirta Ramirez Computer Science Charter School accreditation has not been finalized due to ongoing discussions about how the school's math program will meet the Network requirement of maintaining a common intellectual mission. HTHL identifies for special commendation the staff of San Carlos High School for submitting an exemplary Self-Study. That document and all other SQR documents are posted on the HTHL website at http://www.hightechhigh.org/HTHL/HTH_Sites/HTHSITES.htm  3. High
Tech High Learning Visits ChinaPrompted by inquiries from business leaders with ties to Chinese government officials, Gary Jacobs, Chairman of the Board of High Tech High Learning, Larry Rosenstock, CEO, Jed Wallace, COO and Brian Delgado, Dean of Students for High Tech High International, visited China recently to discuss possibilities for partnership and replication. During the visit, HTHL Leadership had meetings with educators, business leaders and government officials in Beijing, Suzhou, Guangzhou and Dongguan. Discussions were facilitated through the gracious assistance of Alliance Investment Consultants, an international organization committed to encouraging greater education partnership and cultural exchange between China and the United States. Discussions covered many topics, including the China's enormous need to expand educational opportunities for high school students and the need to reform education practice to better prepare Chinese citizens to compete in the 21st Century economy. Discussions also centered on the design elements of High Tech High and how they may be applicable within in a Chinese context. Chinese educators also asked several questions about High Tech High's highly innovative special education program.  At several school visits, principals and
teachers of Chinese high schools expressed an eagerness to partner with
High Tech High International and other schools in the High Tech High Learning
Network. Of particular interest to Chinese educators is the possibility
of developing exchange programs for teachers and students. In response,
High Tech High International staff are already working to ensure that
potential exchange partners may receive the necessary visas in time for
the 2005-06 school year. Other schools expressed a desire to begin collaborating
immediately with HTHL Network schools on student-driven projects. Dongguan
High School committed to working with High Tech High International during
the 2004-05 school year to develop collaborative projects about local
environmental and traffic issues. The projects will feature students having
web-enabled venues for collaboration and communication and will result
in jointly produced final publications.Finally, HTHL also learned about numerous opportunities for replication within China. Recent changes in national law have made it possible for foreign education providers to collaborate with local partners to expand educational opportunities for Chinese students. HTHL has now received multiple requests to support replication efforts in Donggguan, Suzhou and other areas of China. In response, HTHL has undertaken a formal feasibility analysis to determine how best HTH may support further application of HTH design elements in China.  4. Teacher
Residency and Ambassador Dates SetBuilding on last year's successful pilot program, HTH Learning will offer full teacher residency and faculty ambassador programs in the 2004-2005 school year. Teacher residencies will be held in three rounds, on October 13-15, January 30-February 1, and March 9-11. The HTH Faculty Ambassadors will travel to network school sites for three days during the period of March 21-April 1. Teacher Residency Program Under the teacher residency program, network school colleagues will visit High Tech High for a three-day period. These visiting colleagues will be paired with High Tech High teachers within their respective disciplines for classroom observation, reflection, and co-teaching. The goal is for HTH and network teachers to engage in mutually beneficial conversations about how better to implement the HTH design principles in their respective schools. Project based learning will be a central focus, along with meeting the needs of all students. Prior to arrival, the visiting teachers from each school will engage with their hosts in a pre-residency planning conversation. Faculty Ambassadors In the faculty ambassador program, teachers from High Tech High travel to network sites to mentor and consult with network colleagues about the implementation of the High Tech High design principles. Here, too, the conversation goes both ways: while at the network schools, HTH teachers will gather information and ideas for dissemination and future collaboration across the network. Current assignments for the ambassador program are as follows, subject to change:
The teacher residency and faculty ambassador programs will offer rewarding opportunities for professional development for all concerned. The exchange of ideas by way of these programs will allow High Tech High and network schools to expand their sense of the possible as they work to provide the best possible education for their students. 5. HTH Learning Network School Updates City High School, Tucson, AZ City High School is undergoing a renovation largely funded by a generous contribution from Mary Jo Ghory, a school supporter affiliated with the Washington, D.C. based non- profit Charter School Development Corporation (CSDC). Assistance was offered by way of providing collateral to leverage a loan to enhance the school. By the start of the new school year, City High will house seven new classrooms, two smaller meeting rooms, and teacher offices. CHS will spend several days in August meeting, greeting, and registering new students and families. Classes begin on September 2nd. City High teachers and administrators are planning their school retreat for early September. High Tech High Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA Four High Tech High Los Angeles students were accepted to the University of California’s 4 week residential summer program known as COSMOS (Curriculum Opportunities for Science and Math Oriented Students). Three students were accepted to UC campuses at Irvine and one student at Davis. The COSMOS program provides students with an unparalleled opportunity to work side-by-side with outstanding researchers and university faculty, covering topics in astronomy, astrophysics, math and applied math, engineering and robotics. HTHLA’s student internship program has continued to develop and progress over the summer. Student internship sites have included local businesses, a six-axis robotics laser welding company (Roberts Tool), a manufacturing fabrication company (Prompt Machine Products), and Carnegie Mellon University, where students learned software and hardware for GPS in order to map the route for the CMU Red Team in the DARPA Grand Challenge. HTHLA’s teacher in-service will begin August 16th and continues for three weeks. Activities planned for that time include training by the Buck Institute on Project Based Learning, training by Rob Riordan on the Advisory program, and getting settled in. Mirta Ramirez Computer Science Charter School, Chicago, IL Mirta Ramirez Computer Science Charter School is more than halfway through their summer session, and are excitedly planning for the upcoming regular school year. Several teachers have attended a variety of professional development seminars. Computer teacher George Smith attended the Oracle Academy at UCLA to obtain a teacher certificate so that the school can offer an Oracle pilot program for sophomores allowing them to begin training for Oracle certification. Enrichment Program Coordinator Mark Stewart attended the Illinois Writing Project, part of the National Writing Project, which promotes reading and writing across the curriculum. MR(cs)2 will introduce the faculty to some new ideas and strategies to make students more engaged, help them make cross-curricular connections and challenge them at higher levels of thinking. Students are presently attending MR(cs)2 summer enrichment program. New Bedford Global Learning Charter School, New Bedford, MA Four teachers spent a week at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute teaming with science researchers to plan project-based units that will involve NBGLCS students in actual, ongoing science research. NBGLCS faculty proposes to map the New Bedford community within a one mile radius of the school for potential project-based and community-study learning sites for the fall as a part of the Environment as Integrating Context training. Creative ideas are everywhere! Entering 9th graders will be having a great adventure to kick off NBGLCS’s Connecting Oceans global curriculum theme. On August 6-8, the students and a few seafaring staff members are heading out on a three day-two night working and learning cruise aboard the Schooner Ernestina, a 19th century sailing vessel out of our home port in New Bedford. Seventh and eight grade students are signing up for a two week small craft sailing lessons in early August. This program has been offered to students though NBGLCS partnership with the Community Boating Program, a local organization committed to teaching kids about the excitement of being captain of your own craft. This experience will foster projects related to physics, environmental studies, and other scientific disciplines. NBGLCS will be renovating spaces for their first 9th grade class. David Stephen of HTH is assisting the school to rehab their new space "HTH style". New Urban High School, Clackamas, OR New Urban will host David Stephen for a professional development session on the City Works program, which shows teachers how to allow students to effectively work in the community on placebased projects that also integrates state standards. Teachers are eager to gain insight on the methodology discussed by David, who will also be at New Urban to discuss future facility renovations. Classes at New Urban will begin September 7th. The administration and teachers are planning an off-site orientation retreat at a pending location for all new incoming students the first week of school. San Carlos High School, San Carlos, CA San Carlos High School hosted an impressive end-of-year open house, where students presented their digital portfolios to visiting parents and community partners. This summer, the school plans to host Rob Riordan for a professional development workshop focusing on curriculum planning and aligning with standards. With 140 students in grades 9and 10 enrolled for the start of the new school year, SCHS is expanding its present facility to accommodate the influx of new students. The faculty and administration are excited about the recent hire of new SCHS Executive Director, Dan Lyttle. Mr. Lyttle comes to SCHS with significant administrative experience in a local middle school, and a background in project-based learning and special education. 
Sci- Tech High, Harrisburg, PASci-Tech High is celebrating the recent completion of their summer program. The four week summer program was implemented in collaboration with Harrisburg University, and hosted students in grades 9-12 with a primary focus on instruction in strengthening skills in math, writing, and English. One hundred twenty five students attended the program, including all incoming freshmen. Sci-Tech high facilities are moving along smoothly. Staff items are being been moved in, as they eagerly prepare to enter the newly renovated facility! The ribbon-cutting ceremony for their dynamic building will take place on August 20th. High Tech High, San Diego, CA HTH leadership traveled to China to discuss replication possibilities outside of the United States. Their travels were positive and opened several conversations about using the HTH model in urban cities located in China, in addition to the possibility for partnering with High Tech High International's foreign exchange program. HTH is in the midst of a renovation project which will add several classrooms and teacher offices to the "Great" room space. Desktop computers which were housed in this area will be replaced with laptops for student use. HTH advisors have been spending a portion of their summer break visiting their advisee's homes and getting to know their families. HTH teachers have been traveling to various conferences across the nation for professional development. Larry Rosenstock and Jed Wallace will travel to Seattle in mid August for a Gates sponsored institute on scaling up networks for small schools. Teachers return to HTH on August 23rd to spend time planning and working with master teachers for professional development. High Tech Middle, San Diego, CA HTM staff took advantage of the summer time to jump-start preparations for the upcoming school year. HTM's Advisory Study Group met often to create a comprehensive Advisory Curriculum to be implemented throughout school year. In the meantime, the middle school offered its first summer camp program for its new and returning students. Though the program was fee-based, the camp offered subsidy and financial assistance to 25% of the families participating. Proceeds from the camp were used to purchase three 15-passenger vehicles for the middle school. In addition, High Tech Middle's reigning Botball Champions of San Diego County went to Fresno to compete in the state final. Middle school students competed against high school teams and did extremely well for their first year. High Tech Middle received a very special award, the Integration Award, for their ethnically diverse team. Finally, the HTM staff team is now complete with the addition of eight teachers and one Extended Service Coordinator. High Tech High International, San Diego, CA While facilities are being ramped up at High Tech High International for it's September 7th opening, staff have been busy visiting several schools in Mexico, Japan and China over the summer months in order to forge partnerships and exchange ideas. These visits have propelled ideas such as participating in water projects with two sister schools in Playas Mexico, just southwest of Tijuana. The two schools, CETYS and Ibero Americano, participated in a water monitoring project with high schools throughout the world last year. Brian Delgado, Dean of Student Affairs, visited a number of school in China that are interested in online collaboration, book exchange, and student/teacher exchange. The possibility for international collaboration on a student, teacher and administrative level will serve to bring a greater degree of real world immersion to the HTH curriculum. HTHI staff and teachers are excited about the future potential for these programs. |
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