Tech High Begins Inaugural Year By Maria M. Lameiras
G
eorgia Tech alumni have been instrumental in creating Tech High, an Atlanta charter school designed to prepare students for careers in engineering, science and technology. The shuttered SciTrek in Atlanta is the temporary home for the 120 freshmen who make up the inaugural class of Tech High, which is a partnership between the Tech High Foundation and the Atlanta Public Schools and draws its student body from districts within the city limits. Students who go through the math, science and technology-heavy curriculum to graduate from Tech High will be primed to enter college, technical school or the technical work force at a highly skilled level, according to school organizers. Kelly McCutchen, Mgt 89, executive vice president of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, says the organization has been working with Atlanta Public Schools and the Technology Association of Georgia for three years to make the charter school a reality. "These are kids from all over the city of Atlanta and, as a charter school, we by law have to admit everyone who applies. We have 120 ninth-graders right now. If we go over 150, students are selected by lottery. We suspect there will be a waiting list by next year," McCutchen says. "All students will follow the same college-prep curriculum. Our belief is that all kids can be successful if you have high expectations." The freshman class is using about 17,000 square feet at SciTrek, which closed its doors in August. By 2006, the school, which will add a freshman class each year, will need about 50,000 square feet to accommodate the expected student body of 600, according to school leaders. During a three-week math camp beginning in July, students became
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Alan Gravitt, Phys 67, teaches math and science at Tech High.
acquainted with each other and the staff, took assessment tests in math and reading and participated in learning activities. "Ramp-up" programs in math and reading are in place for students who need additional help. Under the school's organization, each student has three teachers, one who is dual-certified to teach math and science, one who is dual-certified to teach English and social studies and a foreign language teacher. Alan Gravitt, Phys 67, and William Daly, EE 82, MS EE 83, are math and science teachers at Tech High. "I taught public school for seven years, then I was in research and development for 23 years. Now I'm in my third year back teaching and the idea of a project-based science, math and technology program where the students are interested and have a strong work ethic is superb," Gravitt says. "Our expectations are going to be high and this is going to take students who are ahead and push them forward while students who are having problems are going to be helped and motivated to excel. We want these students, when they walk out of Tech High, to walk into Georgia Tech or Morehouse or Emory or any other Georgia institution and be ready to start." Once the current freshmen reach their junior and senior years, they will
have opportunities to pursue research in conjunction with Georgia Tech and other technical schools and colleges. "We have some professors who will be working with students on research and we have mentors and tutors who are Georgia Tech students," McCutchen says, "Once we get the program started, we will focus on replicating it around the state." As a public-private partnership, the school receives public funds of about $5,200 per student per year from the Atlanta Public Schools, about half the amount of other public schools, and therefore must accept all students. It has raised almost $2.6 million from industry and private donations for facilities improvements, technology enhancements and enrichment opportunities for the students. Industry support for the school has come from companies such as Noro Moseley, Scientific Atlanta, EarthLink, UPS, Coca-Cola Co. and Southern Co. Don Chapman, Mgt 61, chairman of the board of the Tech High Foundation, says he could not be more pleased with the school's start. "We drew students from all quadrants of the city and that is important. As we grow we will see how we do, but if we can do this in inner-city Atlanta, it can go to the national level. We can replicate this and spread the idea," Chapman says.