High Tech High Celebrated by Bill Gates' Recent Editorial in the Washington Post

UPDATE:  Larry had contacted me earlier this week to let me know the difficult news that one of the HTH's in the Bay area was going to close because of under-enrollment.  I was stunned. Especially given the technology leaders that populate that area...and have kids who go to schools...and are often speaking about the 'state of education' in America. Ironic.  Terribly ironic.  Robert Scoble just blogged a letter he received by a stunned parent whose child will have to find another school next year.  See the very bottom of this post for a snippet of the parent's letter that can't help but make you wonder how a technology-fueled community like that could let such a diamond get away.

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Pleased to see that San Diego's High Tech High, the school founded by a friend/colleague of mine (Larry Rosenstock), was mentioned as a positive example of 'what can occur' by Bill Gates in a recent editorial ("How to Keep American Competitive") found in the Washington Post:

Our schools can do better. Last year, I visited High Tech High in San Diego; it's an amazing school where educators have augmented traditional teaching methods with a rigorous, project-centered curriculum. Students there know they're expected to go on to college. This combination is working: 100 percent of High Tech High graduates are accepted into college, and 29 percent major in math or science. Contrast that with the national average of 17 percent.

What a wonderful description that any school would be honored to call their own.  Especially when we're talking about a public school that is challenging the traditional norms -- learning by any means necessary -- with a majority of kids who are the ones who are often described by the pundits as 'at-risk'. 

Worth reading Gates' entire editorial. And making time to visit High Tech High when in San Diego next.

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As stated above, here is the parent's email that was sent to Scoble (which he blogged about).  Perhaps you know somebody that can offer some assistance to this remarkable team of innovative educators who are doing it better than so many:

The specific reason for this email is that I was hoping you might help publicize a plight that we are in with my son’s school. The name of the school is High Tech High School Bayshore, a charter school in Redwood City run by an organization called High Tech High. This is a public school not a private one.

The situation is this: the school was opened just 1.5 years ago. It is super modern, has a wonderful curriculum and is filled with teachers that we all wish we had had when we were in high school. Last week the parents were informed that the school would close in June and this after sending our kids there with assurances that High Tech High would invest 5 years in making the school successful. Furthermore, they told us there was no risk in sending kids there as they owned the building and could not be put out.

Now they are telling us that they do not have enough enrollment to make a go of it (it is hard to get high schoolers to move in the middle of their high school years) and they are selling the building off and closing the school.

The irony here is that the school is in the middle of Silicon Valley where Valley execs often bemoan the lack of quality secondary education and worry that the future will require more importing of engineers as a result. What is REALLY upsetting is that we were given one weeks notice. If we had been told that they needed a certain level of enrollment to continue, the parents would have gone door-to-door to make it happen (remember, this is a PUBLIC school, it costs nothing). And, a number of us who have had careers in the high tech world and connections could have likely dug up corporate funding to tide the school over until it caught on. The High Tech High schools in San Diego have wait lists 3,000 students long I have heard.

Comments

[Greg]

Thanks for your thoughts. I am a parent of one of the students at High Tech Tech High Bayshore.

I do not believe that it is the community that let us down. The community knew nothing about the pending closure of the school and was never approached for assistance.

There was no communication to any of the parents or from what I can tell the administration until one week before the planned vote on closure.

If there were financial issues, why were those not raised prior to closing the school? How could there be a financial crisis after only 18 months of operation? Larry may be a good friend of yours, but there is some serious mismanagement here.

I am pretty sure that money could have been raised to solve financial issues and I am absolutely sure that more students could have been recruited to attend, but with no communication from the board about either of these issues being critical, no one was mobilized.

This all leaves us wondering what is really going on because you don't open a school, assure parents that you have a guarantee for 5 years, tell them that you own the building and so can't be forced out and then 18 months later give students, parents and faculty one weeks notice that you are voting to close the school and sell it off to the local school board. The whole thing just smells and leaves a big black on what otherwise would appear to be an exceptional program.

[Christian]

Greg – I just published your comment tonight and hope that it helps to further the conversation, and possibly even answer some vital questions.

While Larry is a colleague and friend of mine – a gentleman and educator who I highly respect – I can’t speak personally for the situation that occurred, nor the management of the larger organization or the individual school in question. Your questions appear to me to be logical and well-posed. At the same time, clearly something happened that put the Board in a very difficult situation.

But I do hope that the questions you’re asking spark a larger conversation that ultimately serves the kids themselves.

Sincerely,
Christian

[HTHB Concerned Parent]

Christian,
Thank you for posting information regarding the closing of High Tech High Bayshore. It's truly a shame that in the heart of the Silicon Valley an education model such as HTH is being shut down.

My son was bored and disillusioned at our local public high school, Sequoia. As his grades began to decline dramatically, he developed severe abdominal pain, depression and total lack of motivation. I didn't even recognize him.

We spent a month and a half having him tested only to learn he was suffering from emotional/psychological problems related to school. He was feeling stupid for the grades he was getting, fearful of what his future would hold.

He felt helpless at school, coming home everyday telling me about the gangs, the drugs, teacher apathy, and class disruptions that prevented learning from occurring. He said teachers spent most of the class period yelling at kids, then they would give a heap of homework.

When I spoke with his counselor, I asked that he be permitted to repeat his freshman year, but was told that except in extreme situations, as a district they do not retain kids. He would have been promoted to the 10th grade, and expected to attend summer school and night classes to make up failed classes.

I discovered High Tech High Bayshore that summer. In July I enrolled my son and what a surprise to have him come home each day praising his school, teachers, and the learning taking place. His grades improved dramatically! And most important, he LOVES learning. As a freshman he is learning physics! Right now he is learning the physics of creating sound. As a project to reinforce the concepts, the students will create an instrument that plays 8-notes!

I can't sleep, I worry about him returning to the institution that could not teach him; the district that purchased our building, and has been hostile to the HTH charter from day one. Not all children learn the same. This one size fits all education is failing, and our children are failing with it.

Parents are doing everything they can think of to keep our school community in tact, but we need financial help.

Our school serves students from San Jose, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Carlos, Los Altos, Half Moon Bay, Menlo Park, Belmont, East Palo Alto, Burlingame, Castro Valley, Foster City, San Mateo, Fremont, & Hayward among others.

This is an excellent school, and as the "flagship" school in the SF Bay Area, it deserves better than 18-mos to prove itself not only for those students who are presently enrolled, but for those who have heard about it and are waiting for their chance to succeed. Even High Tech High's first senior class in San Diego only had 50-students, and they didn't grow out of a failed charter like our school has.

Please take a minute to view our blog at: http://savehightechhighbayshore.blogspot.com

thanks...
kim