SAN MARCOS: Learning the High Tech High way

N.C. campus wraps up first year, focuses on the future

By SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer | Saturday, June 21, 2008 10:28 PM PDT ∞

SAN MARCOS ---- When 140 freshmen walked onto the High Tech High North County campus nine months ago, they came without the 10-pound backpacks and hundred-page textbooks they had grown accustomed to carting to school in the past.

Instead, the students were provided laptop computers, building tools and pencils for designing models and projects.

The charter school's project-based approach to learning, where the emphasis is on creativity, teamwork and presentations, was difficult to grasp at first, several students and parents said last week. But as classes for the charter's first year wrapped up last week, students said they learned more and enjoyed school like never before.

"I think it's the best school I have ever been to," said 15-year-old Sean Miller, one of the 138 freshmen who finished the school year at High Tech High North County. "I love having the light backpack."

Sean wasn't alone.

"I find it better than traditional school," 14-year-old Autumn Boatner of San Marcos said, referring to the small class sizes, familylike atmosphere and multiple class projects.

"If you learn out of a textbook you tend to forget it. Do you remember what you read in a textbook two years ago? No. You remember that science project you did, though."

In interviews last week with educators, students, parents and business leaders, the consensus was largely the same: The school's first year has been a success.

School leaders and parents said students were engaged and showed up for classes. They also noted that the charter is primed to grow. And, in fact, construction on a permanent campus started Friday, and about 150 more students from Oceanside to Poway are expected to join the school in the fall.

A different option

High Tech High North County is part of a growing group of charter schools that sprang from an original Point Loma-based campus started in 2000 by a coalition of San Diego business leaders and educators.

The group of about 40 individuals, many of whom worked in the high-tech business industry, was having trouble finding qualified employees with science, math and engineering skills, said Mara Sanders, High Tech High's director of development and community outreach.

The group decided to develop a school that would train kids in teamwork, in communicating ideas and in following an idea from inception to completion, she said. Since then, the charter-school group has opened five high schools, two middle schools, an elementary school and a graduate school of education.

The San Marcos campus, which focuses on precollege liberal arts courses, was one of two charter schools to open under a statewide charter that will eventually allow it to add sophomore, junior and senior classes and to grow its enrollment to about 530 students.

Charter schools typically need approval by local school districts to open, but operate independently and have more flexibility in how they spend money and develop their curricula.

For High Tech High, the goal is to teach students to design, create and build projects in two-hour classes. For example, to learn about wind movement and wavelength this year, students designed and built wind chimes. In discussing Spanish culture, they created their own businesses, marketed their companies and made video, print and radio advertisements.

"We are not for everybody, but we are an option," High Tech High North County's director, Nicole Hinostro, said. "We want families to have educational opportunities that will help them get into college and succeed."

The jury is still out

Anecdotal evidence suggests that High Tech High kids are succeeding.

Hinostro said students receive grades in each of their classes based on their work and on the goals they have set for themselves. Students also tested well this year on both the pre-ACT test and a math exam administered by the University of California schools to gauge their level of understanding, she said.

ACT is a college-entrance exam that tests students on their English, math, reading and science skills. High school students are often encouraged to take the pre-ACT test in their sophomore year to judge how prepared they are for college.

Results from the most common tool used to judge how well schools are fairing in teaching students and to compare schools to other campuses ---- standardized state tests that students are required to take each spring ---- will not be available until August.

State reports from High Tech High's other schools, though, show that all of the organization's campuses have met the federal government's 2014 requirement to have all students working at grade level in math and English.

All of the schools also have a near-perfect graduation rate and have had all of their high school graduates continue onto college, state reports show.

School officials and parents at the San Marcos campus said last week they expect to see similar results at their school.

"I feel like he is getting something special here," one parent, Jan Bonner of Escondido, said about her son, John. "He is receiving exposure to different ways of learning that are more in line with the way he has always been."

Building toward the future

As students and teachers wrapped up the school year last week, tractors and construction tools revved up next door as crews broke ground on the school's $21 million permanent campus.

Construction on the two-story, largely environmentally friendly school ---- the campus has large windows for natural light and air filtration, and solar panels on the roof ---- began Friday and is expected to be completed for the first day of school in fall 2009. The school will be housed on the same 5.2 acre parcel that has the temporary campus, and it will eventually include a middle school.

The middle school, estimated to cost about $8 million, is expected to open by the 2010-11 or 2011-12 school year, officials said.

When complete, both schools will be outfitted with the latest technology, and the high school will have a bit of a performing arts flair, Hinostro said. It will have a recording studio, a large performance space and a black box theater.

"That's something I am really excited about because the traditional high schools do not always give that opportunity for the performing arts," Hinostro said. "It's something that really promotes kids to be confident when they grow up."

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.

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