San Marcos school board tours High Tech High

By: BRENDA DURAN - Staff Writer | Monday, April 16, 2007 11:48 PM PDT ∞

SAN MARCOS --- San Marcos Unified trustees got a glimpse into the inner workings of High Tech High on Monday, in an effort to learn more about the organization before deciding whether to grant it a K-8 charter.

Four of the five school board members took part in a three-hour tour of the organization's Point Loma campus, where High Tech High operates six public charter schools inside a former Naval Training Center.

Point Loma-based High Tech High formed in 2000 as a single charter high school launched by a coalition of San Diego business leaders and educators.

Monday's tour included an in-depth look at classroom structures, curriculum and teachers.

"It was very interesting," said board member Pam Bancells. "They gave us a lot of information to process."

The tour was given at the request of trustees who are deciding whether or not they will grant the organization a charter to open a K-8 charter school in the city.

District officials are expected to discuss the issue at the monthly board meeting on Monday, which will be held at the North County Regional Education Center, 255 Pico Avenue at 6:30 p.m.

The organization is slated to open a charter high school on a vacant 5.2-acre lot adjacent to 1370 San Marcos Boulevard near Discovery Street. It does not need the board's approval for that charter because the high school will open under a state charter granted the organization by the state Board of Education in January.

The San Marcos campus, which would offer a liberal arts college prep program, would initially open for 150 ninth-graders and add a grade each year until the school has a total of 500 students. Plans call for opening a middle school at the site as early as 2009.

Board President Mary Borevitz said the tour helped trustees get a lot of their questions answered about the school's infrastructure and taught them about the alternative ways of teaching that the school uses.

"They are doing many imaginative, creative things," said Borevitz.

Borevitz said there were many things that stood out during the tour such as the fact that teachers at the school are hired on a year-to-year basis, the lack of sports teams and a playground as well and the socio-economic make-up of the students.

"It was kind of how schools looked in the 1950s," said Borevitz. "Most of the kids who go to the school come from upper-income homes. Schools don't look like that anymore."

Others, such as board member David Horacek, said he was "very impressed" with the school's "seemingly charged environment" as well as the small class sizes and programs.

"It would be good for our district to come up with similar competitive programs, that way we can offer alternatives rather than let others fill that void," said Horacek.

The San Marcos High Tech High School is expected to offer small classrooms and the focus will be on teaching students through project-based learning, which requires students to create and design hands-on projects as class assignments, according to High Tech High officials.

It will be one of two charter schools in San Diego County that will open under High Tech High's statewide charter. The other campus will be in Chula Vista.

The state charter allows High Tech High to eventually open 10 campuses statewide that will operate under state jurisdiction and independently of local school districts.

However, because the organization wants to be able to offer an elementary and middle school in the future, they will have to be granted a separate charter from San Marcos officials.

Borevitz said she would not comment on whether the tour affected her vote on the charter.

"I think there could be some synergies between us, it would also give parents more choices," Borevitz said. "But, at this point we have to keep looking at it and continue to ask more questions."

Contact staff writer Brenda Duran at (760) 761-4408 or bduran@nctimes.com.