Here’s an email I got from a friend who’s an executive at a Silicon Valley company.
It’s sad that attempts to really improve our public school systems don’t get more attention.
UPDATE: turns out the school is going to close. I’m running the email late, just to show the excitement that one parent I know had for this school.
+++
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.
So at this point, I am just trying to drum up awareness and perhaps get to someone who might be a white knight. The model these schools follow has been hugely successful and there is no fundamental reason that this one can’t be. Plus it provides the kinds of modern, technical education so needed for the Bay Area to continue to thrive.
Take a look at the website and tell me this is not a school you would want to send your son to:
Some related news stories:
Scobleizer 
Robert — I’m friends with Larry Rosenstock, the founder and CEO of the High Tech High schools (based out of San Diego). He just emailed me 2 days ago about the difficult decision the board made to close the school due to low enrollment. While I can’t say whether it’s ‘too late’ or not to make a difference, I know that anyone who feels that they might be able to help this remarkable group out would be deeply appreciated by Larry and his team.
BTW, Bill Gates in a very recent Washington Post editorial entitled “How to Keep America Competitive” said the following about High Tech High (it was the only example of how schools are doing it well):
“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.” Link to the Gates’ editorial here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022301697.html
Needless to say, the very fact that a HTH program exists in the Valley is a blessing…and it is certainly a troubling version of irony that the school can’t find enough parents/students to keep it going. Jobs’ recent ‘criticism’ of US schools and teachers standing in the way of innovation seems to ignore schools like HTH…yet if a school providing this realm of education can’t remain open due to a lack of interest, one would be hard-pressed to predict when the larger system will begin to get it right in ways that the Valley believes we need to evolve as a learned society.
For what it’s worth, I love that you posted about this. I just blogged about Gates’ editorial earlier today: http://thinklab.typepad.com/think_lab/2007/02/high_tech_high_.html Larry and team are a remarkable group of people. Truly. Hopefully your post can make a difference and turn this school’s difficult choice to close around!
Cheers,
Christian
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Robert — I’m friends with Larry Rosenstock, the founder and CEO of the High Tech High schools (based out of San Diego). He just emailed me 2 days ago about the difficult decision the board made to close the school due to low enrollment. While I can’t say whether it’s ‘too late’ or not to make a difference, I know that anyone who feels that they might be able to help this remarkable group out would be deeply appreciated by Larry and his team.
BTW, Bill Gates in a very recent Washington Post editorial entitled “How to Keep America Competitive” said the following about High Tech High (it was the only example of how schools are doing it well):
“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.” Link to the Gates’ editorial here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022301697.html
Needless to say, the very fact that a HTH program exists in the Valley is a blessing…and it is certainly a troubling version of irony that the school can’t find enough parents/students to keep it going. Jobs’ recent ‘criticism’ of US schools and teachers standing in the way of innovation seems to ignore schools like HTH…yet if a school providing this realm of education can’t remain open due to a lack of interest, one would be hard-pressed to predict when the larger system will begin to get it right in ways that the Valley believes we need to evolve as a learned society.
For what it’s worth, I love that you posted about this. I just blogged about Gates’ editorial earlier today: http://thinklab.typepad.com/think_lab/2007/02/high_tech_high_.html Larry and team are a remarkable group of people. Truly. Hopefully your post can make a difference and turn this school’s difficult choice to close around!
Cheers,
Christian
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A government school closing? How can this be? I thought the govt could solve everything? I so disillusioned now.
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A government school closing? How can this be? I thought the govt could solve everything? I so disillusioned now.
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I am a student at one of High Tech High’s schools down in San Diego and the program is amazing. The schools are extremely student driven and there is a lot of passion from everybody involved. I do not know much about Bayshore specifically but the ideas behind all of the schools are unique and very creative, definitely worth saving.
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I am a student at one of High Tech High’s schools down in San Diego and the program is amazing. The schools are extremely student driven and there is a lot of passion from everybody involved. I do not know much about Bayshore specifically but the ideas behind all of the schools are unique and very creative, definitely worth saving.
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Thanks for posting about a activist concern. This is what gives the blogosphere its POWER!
The Baltimore city school board will decide on this Tuesday Feb. 27th at 6:00pm to close schools in Baltimore city.
We must let the world know that we are watching and documenting the abuse of our children.
Below is a post I posted to my site and the Baltimore Sun.
Thanks Robert for helping us connect.
Don’t “RAPE” Our Schools!
& Especially Pimlico Middle One of The Largest School Campus in the System!
The Latin term for the act of rape itself is raptus. The word rape originates from the Latin verb rapere: to seize or take by force. The word originally had no sexual connotation and is still used generically in English.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape
The Baltimore City School Board thinks that it can allow the state to “FORCE” its will upon the city schools and the communities it is elected to serve.
The following schools have been slated to be closed by the Board: Canton Middle School, Hamilton Middle School, Lombard Middle, Lafayette Elementary, Thomas G. Haynes Elementary, Augusta Fells Savage Institute of the Visual Arts and Dr. Lillie M. Jackson Alternative Elementary, Southeast Middle, Thurgood Marshall Middle, and the Pimlico Middle School in Aug.07.
When will the African American community stop allowing our educational resources and wealth be “SEIZED” by a State and Local political system that will not hear the cries of it most venerable neighborhoods?
We have the lowest reading scores, the lowest math scores, the highest truancy rates, the largest number young males incarcerated, the highest number of HIV/ AIDS, the lowest income, the largest number of homeless people, the highest number of homicides, the most heart attacks, highest incidences of diabetes and NOW the State of Maryland and the City dares to try to SHUT DOWN the very institutions, our SCHOOLS which have been our most valuable asset and the stepping stone for our people to try and achieve the so called American dream. Our schools have allowed us to be able to overcome and for many of us to excel in spite of their neglect by decades racism, segregation, private schools, hand me down books, white flight, and all the other ills of that have tried to kill us and enslave us.
We owe it to the legacy of our ancestors and elders as we celebrate Black History Month to FIGHT to ensure that the continued RAPE and pillaging of our communities STOPS!
We cannot allow another generation of our children to be told there is not enough money. Our children are OWED computers in every class room, the best books, best trained teachers and best paid teachers, best buildings and best campuses. Don’t offer us a carrot of building better schools, FIRST build up the schools we have NOW!
Governor O’Malley fought back when the Ehrlich administration tried to take over / RAPE our city schools which O’Malley thought would have been perceived as a blow to his leadership and diminished his run for Governor.
We have an African- American Lt. Governor, Baltimore City Mayor, City Council President, Controller and various other Black elected officials that need to FIGHT BACK when our communities are seized/ RAPED with HIGH incidences of HIV/AIDS, HIGH drug abuse, HIGH homelessness, HIGH unemployment, HIGH incarceration rates, HIGH, HIGH, HIGH. Everything is HIGH except the test scores of our children!!!
We have an African-American Baltimore School Board C.E.O., Board President, and other African- Americans who sit on the Board. Will they fight back against the RAPE of our schools? Our parents who are too often stressed out and workedout must FIGHT BACK! Our teachers who must worry about losing a job, being transferred, and told to be quiet and not to get involved, must speak up and FIGHT BACK! During Black History Month we should not allow our SCHOOLS, one of our most empowering instititutions to be RAPED / forced to be closed. Those of us who God has blessed to have fought a racist system and to have overcome cannot be silent and watch this RAPE occur, we must FIGHT BACK! We must FIGHT BACK for our children!
Rev. William Wingo
Publisher, Power Magazine
powerspeaks@yahoo.com
1-800-336-3290
LikeLike
Thanks for posting about a activist concern. This is what gives the blogosphere its POWER!
The Baltimore city school board will decide on this Tuesday Feb. 27th at 6:00pm to close schools in Baltimore city.
We must let the world know that we are watching and documenting the abuse of our children.
Below is a post I posted to my site and the Baltimore Sun.
Thanks Robert for helping us connect.
Don’t “RAPE” Our Schools!
& Especially Pimlico Middle One of The Largest School Campus in the System!
The Latin term for the act of rape itself is raptus. The word rape originates from the Latin verb rapere: to seize or take by force. The word originally had no sexual connotation and is still used generically in English.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape
The Baltimore City School Board thinks that it can allow the state to “FORCE” its will upon the city schools and the communities it is elected to serve.
The following schools have been slated to be closed by the Board: Canton Middle School, Hamilton Middle School, Lombard Middle, Lafayette Elementary, Thomas G. Haynes Elementary, Augusta Fells Savage Institute of the Visual Arts and Dr. Lillie M. Jackson Alternative Elementary, Southeast Middle, Thurgood Marshall Middle, and the Pimlico Middle School in Aug.07.
When will the African American community stop allowing our educational resources and wealth be “SEIZED” by a State and Local political system that will not hear the cries of it most venerable neighborhoods?
We have the lowest reading scores, the lowest math scores, the highest truancy rates, the largest number young males incarcerated, the highest number of HIV/ AIDS, the lowest income, the largest number of homeless people, the highest number of homicides, the most heart attacks, highest incidences of diabetes and NOW the State of Maryland and the City dares to try to SHUT DOWN the very institutions, our SCHOOLS which have been our most valuable asset and the stepping stone for our people to try and achieve the so called American dream. Our schools have allowed us to be able to overcome and for many of us to excel in spite of their neglect by decades racism, segregation, private schools, hand me down books, white flight, and all the other ills of that have tried to kill us and enslave us.
We owe it to the legacy of our ancestors and elders as we celebrate Black History Month to FIGHT to ensure that the continued RAPE and pillaging of our communities STOPS!
We cannot allow another generation of our children to be told there is not enough money. Our children are OWED computers in every class room, the best books, best trained teachers and best paid teachers, best buildings and best campuses. Don’t offer us a carrot of building better schools, FIRST build up the schools we have NOW!
Governor O’Malley fought back when the Ehrlich administration tried to take over / RAPE our city schools which O’Malley thought would have been perceived as a blow to his leadership and diminished his run for Governor.
We have an African- American Lt. Governor, Baltimore City Mayor, City Council President, Controller and various other Black elected officials that need to FIGHT BACK when our communities are seized/ RAPED with HIGH incidences of HIV/AIDS, HIGH drug abuse, HIGH homelessness, HIGH unemployment, HIGH incarceration rates, HIGH, HIGH, HIGH. Everything is HIGH except the test scores of our children!!!
We have an African-American Baltimore School Board C.E.O., Board President, and other African- Americans who sit on the Board. Will they fight back against the RAPE of our schools? Our parents who are too often stressed out and workedout must FIGHT BACK! Our teachers who must worry about losing a job, being transferred, and told to be quiet and not to get involved, must speak up and FIGHT BACK! During Black History Month we should not allow our SCHOOLS, one of our most empowering instititutions to be RAPED / forced to be closed. Those of us who God has blessed to have fought a racist system and to have overcome cannot be silent and watch this RAPE occur, we must FIGHT BACK! We must FIGHT BACK for our children!
Rev. William Wingo
Publisher, Power Magazine
powerspeaks@yahoo.com
1-800-336-3290
LikeLike
I am the parent of a High Tech High Bayshore freshman. My son entered this fantastic learning community after not only failing to excel at the local Sequoia High School, but after developing severe, emotional distress because he did not feel supported by teachers and administration and was fearful that his dream of attending a good university and acquiring the education to become a video game developer were going down the drain.
When we toured the campus of HTH Bayshore, we were impressed beyond words by the obvious… here is a school where multiple intelligences were not only encouraged, but thriving! He was HAPPY to repeat his freshman year when he learned that D’s are not accepted as a passing grade. For him, High Tech High provided a clean slate, a new opportunity to build an educational foundation for his future.
WHAT A SHOCK to learn, after 1-semester, that our school was a drain on San Diego to such an extent that they feel it necessary to close our campus and sell the building.
First word of this crisis came on Wednesday, February 14th (now referred to in our community as the St. Valentine’s Day massacre) and was confirmed by a visit from Larry Rosenstock on the following evening (February 15th).
After coalescing our parent community in search of solutions, we learned the building is being sold to Sequoia Unified High School District, who has publicly expressed their animosity toward our school for having to fund us because we sit within their boundaries.
http://www.sanmateodailynews.com/article/2006-11-16-rwc-charter
This board claims “the state board illegally renewed the school’s charter in January after San Mateo County declined the renewal.” The article goes on to say that “Superintendent Pat Gemma said not having to fund the school could save the district about $1.5 million annually.”
My son personally recruited 3 of his friends to High Tech High (which, by the way, our charter school has only been operating under their name for 18-months) two of them from Sequoia high school who, like him, were failing and disillusioned with education, fearful of the hostile environment on the Sequoia campus created by gangs and drug users. His friend, Joseph transferred to HTHB just this semester, and when he told his counselor at Sequoia his intentions he was faced with fierce opposition! He was told the school was failing to educate it’s student body, that he would regret his decision, and that students return to the high school all the time from High Tech High.
What angers me is that the district is clearly putting their financial interest before what should be their first goal to educate students by whatever means necessary!!
Many parents are angry with the Sequoia district and feel betrayed by HTH in San Diego for not communicating with us honestly about the REAL NEED for support to keep out school thriving.
We’ve been told the decision is about enrollment, yet in the 2-years that the charter has operated under the banner of High Tech High, enrollment has grown. Our sophmore class is approximately 80 students, the freshman class over 100, and there are presently over 100 applications for the 2007-08 school year (collecting dust now with the news!). This time last year, the office had 40 applications for incoming freshmen.
As a group of dedicated, concerned and committed parents, we presented the board of High Tech High with compelling arguments to give us 3-months to show them we could raise money and enrollment to make our school “viable,” but what became apparent after presenting our plan is that the decision had already been made. We were told the building has been sold!
Line item # 3.1, of their agenda under the heading “Action Items” read: Consideration of POSSIBLE Closure of HTH Bayshore. This was clearly a misrepresentation and false hope for our community. It should have more accurately read: ANNOUNCEMENT of Closure of HTH Bayshore.
This school is a GEM… our community owes it to our children to keep it alive! There must be a way to stop the doors from closing, the teachers from finding work elsewhere, and this hostile district from moving into our home!
As High Tech High’s “flagship school in the Bay Area” survival is vital for this model to grow in Silicon Valley. California has been an innovator for change in many areas, it’s time to support the possibility of educational reform.
Christian summed it up beautifully in his response: “if a school providing this realm of education can’t remain open due to a lack of interest, one would be hard-pressed to predict when the larger system will begin to get it right in ways that the Valley believes we need to evolve as a learned society.”
Please SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!!!
-kim
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I am the parent of a High Tech High Bayshore freshman. My son entered this fantastic learning community after not only failing to excel at the local Sequoia High School, but after developing severe, emotional distress because he did not feel supported by teachers and administration and was fearful that his dream of attending a good university and acquiring the education to become a video game developer were going down the drain.
When we toured the campus of HTH Bayshore, we were impressed beyond words by the obvious… here is a school where multiple intelligences were not only encouraged, but thriving! He was HAPPY to repeat his freshman year when he learned that D’s are not accepted as a passing grade. For him, High Tech High provided a clean slate, a new opportunity to build an educational foundation for his future.
WHAT A SHOCK to learn, after 1-semester, that our school was a drain on San Diego to such an extent that they feel it necessary to close our campus and sell the building.
First word of this crisis came on Wednesday, February 14th (now referred to in our community as the St. Valentine’s Day massacre) and was confirmed by a visit from Larry Rosenstock on the following evening (February 15th).
After coalescing our parent community in search of solutions, we learned the building is being sold to Sequoia Unified High School District, who has publicly expressed their animosity toward our school for having to fund us because we sit within their boundaries.
http://www.sanmateodailynews.com/article/2006-11-16-rwc-charter
This board claims “the state board illegally renewed the school’s charter in January after San Mateo County declined the renewal.” The article goes on to say that “Superintendent Pat Gemma said not having to fund the school could save the district about $1.5 million annually.”
My son personally recruited 3 of his friends to High Tech High (which, by the way, our charter school has only been operating under their name for 18-months) two of them from Sequoia high school who, like him, were failing and disillusioned with education, fearful of the hostile environment on the Sequoia campus created by gangs and drug users. His friend, Joseph transferred to HTHB just this semester, and when he told his counselor at Sequoia his intentions he was faced with fierce opposition! He was told the school was failing to educate it’s student body, that he would regret his decision, and that students return to the high school all the time from High Tech High.
What angers me is that the district is clearly putting their financial interest before what should be their first goal to educate students by whatever means necessary!!
Many parents are angry with the Sequoia district and feel betrayed by HTH in San Diego for not communicating with us honestly about the REAL NEED for support to keep out school thriving.
We’ve been told the decision is about enrollment, yet in the 2-years that the charter has operated under the banner of High Tech High, enrollment has grown. Our sophmore class is approximately 80 students, the freshman class over 100, and there are presently over 100 applications for the 2007-08 school year (collecting dust now with the news!). This time last year, the office had 40 applications for incoming freshmen.
As a group of dedicated, concerned and committed parents, we presented the board of High Tech High with compelling arguments to give us 3-months to show them we could raise money and enrollment to make our school “viable,” but what became apparent after presenting our plan is that the decision had already been made. We were told the building has been sold!
Line item # 3.1, of their agenda under the heading “Action Items” read: Consideration of POSSIBLE Closure of HTH Bayshore. This was clearly a misrepresentation and false hope for our community. It should have more accurately read: ANNOUNCEMENT of Closure of HTH Bayshore.
This school is a GEM… our community owes it to our children to keep it alive! There must be a way to stop the doors from closing, the teachers from finding work elsewhere, and this hostile district from moving into our home!
As High Tech High’s “flagship school in the Bay Area” survival is vital for this model to grow in Silicon Valley. California has been an innovator for change in many areas, it’s time to support the possibility of educational reform.
Christian summed it up beautifully in his response: “if a school providing this realm of education can’t remain open due to a lack of interest, one would be hard-pressed to predict when the larger system will begin to get it right in ways that the Valley believes we need to evolve as a learned society.”
Please SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!!!
-kim
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I am a parent of High Tech High Bayshore freshman student. The school has produced an amazing turn around in our son.
Educating children is the highest priority in our tradition. As it is said: “…You should teach your child according to his needs”. HTH Bayshore creates an educational system that does exactly that – individualized training for students that require it. Our son is blessed with a very bright mind that happens to be different from many others and, thus, he was struggling in his middle school based mostly on a traditional academics oriented education model. His self esteem was low, as well as his hopes and aspirations. It turned out that he has some learning disabilities requiring a hands-on training. In contrast, during his first two semesters at HTHB his self esteem grew tremendously, his grades got him on the School’s Honor Roll, he is passionate about the school and his studies. He also feels proud to be part of the school community that fosters respect and fairness to all. If the HTHB will be closed he has no place to go where he can learn at this level.
The school must remain open. This project-based hands-on education will be a true model of imparting knowledge and practical skills in the next generation of workforce and leaders, here in the Silicon Valley.
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I am a parent of High Tech High Bayshore freshman student. The school has produced an amazing turn around in our son.
Educating children is the highest priority in our tradition. As it is said: “…You should teach your child according to his needs”. HTH Bayshore creates an educational system that does exactly that – individualized training for students that require it. Our son is blessed with a very bright mind that happens to be different from many others and, thus, he was struggling in his middle school based mostly on a traditional academics oriented education model. His self esteem was low, as well as his hopes and aspirations. It turned out that he has some learning disabilities requiring a hands-on training. In contrast, during his first two semesters at HTHB his self esteem grew tremendously, his grades got him on the School’s Honor Roll, he is passionate about the school and his studies. He also feels proud to be part of the school community that fosters respect and fairness to all. If the HTHB will be closed he has no place to go where he can learn at this level.
The school must remain open. This project-based hands-on education will be a true model of imparting knowledge and practical skills in the next generation of workforce and leaders, here in the Silicon Valley.
LikeLike
I’m a freshman at High Tech High Bayshore. I love attending High Tech High Bayshore and I feel the school should be saved. The teachers are dedicated and they actually care if we fail or not. The project based learning is really cool! We do one of a kind hands on learning. For example, we built balloon carts in math and physics that reinforced the lesson we learned about momentum.
I want High Tech High Bayshore to stay open so all of my friends and I can experience the full four years. I am especially looking forward to being able to do my intern work. Without High Tech High Bayshore I won’t be able to do this.
I am asking everybody to please help me and all of my friends save our school, High Tech High Bayshore.
Thank you very much!
Patrick
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I’m a freshman at High Tech High Bayshore. I love attending High Tech High Bayshore and I feel the school should be saved. The teachers are dedicated and they actually care if we fail or not. The project based learning is really cool! We do one of a kind hands on learning. For example, we built balloon carts in math and physics that reinforced the lesson we learned about momentum.
I want High Tech High Bayshore to stay open so all of my friends and I can experience the full four years. I am especially looking forward to being able to do my intern work. Without High Tech High Bayshore I won’t be able to do this.
I am asking everybody to please help me and all of my friends save our school, High Tech High Bayshore.
Thank you very much!
Patrick
LikeLike
I am a junior at High Tech High Bayshore and I feel so fortunate for having been able to attend this wonderful school for the past year and a half. I transferred in the middle of my sophomore year from a small private school and the sense of warmth and community and HTHB was overwhelming. I am a student with learning difficulties and I was able to thrive with the hands-on, project based learning. The school provides an immensely diverse atmosphere that enables its students to embrace other cultures, there is no segregation, in all corners of the school you will find African Americans, Caucasians and Latinos all laughing together. What makes our school so special is the fact that it caters to a population that needs it. Without our school many students have openly admitted that they would have fallen in with the same wrong crowds the associated with in middle school, many of our students weren’t even considering college before HTHB. We are in a community where the internship program not only provides students with a taste of the workplace but it shows them that they are able to make something with their lives, it shows them that success is attainable. With the impending closure of the school approximately 230 kids lives have now been thrown off track, this is more then a school, it is a safe haven for us kids and without it, I doubt most of us will be able to continue on the same pathway to success. The students of HTHB are willing to do whatever it takes to save our school because we don’t just love it, we need it.
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I am a junior at High Tech High Bayshore and I feel so fortunate for having been able to attend this wonderful school for the past year and a half. I transferred in the middle of my sophomore year from a small private school and the sense of warmth and community and HTHB was overwhelming. I am a student with learning difficulties and I was able to thrive with the hands-on, project based learning. The school provides an immensely diverse atmosphere that enables its students to embrace other cultures, there is no segregation, in all corners of the school you will find African Americans, Caucasians and Latinos all laughing together. What makes our school so special is the fact that it caters to a population that needs it. Without our school many students have openly admitted that they would have fallen in with the same wrong crowds the associated with in middle school, many of our students weren’t even considering college before HTHB. We are in a community where the internship program not only provides students with a taste of the workplace but it shows them that they are able to make something with their lives, it shows them that success is attainable. With the impending closure of the school approximately 230 kids lives have now been thrown off track, this is more then a school, it is a safe haven for us kids and without it, I doubt most of us will be able to continue on the same pathway to success. The students of HTHB are willing to do whatever it takes to save our school because we don’t just love it, we need it.
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Sorry to hear that this school’s going away, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Making it a public school was fraught with peril from the beginning, because the NEA cartel is implacably hostile to any school that performs above the mediocre level that allows the union to wail, gnash their teeth, and scream for more funding.
I hope that the staff of this school decide to give it another shot as a private school.
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Sorry to hear that this school’s going away, but I can’t say I’m surprised. Making it a public school was fraught with peril from the beginning, because the NEA cartel is implacably hostile to any school that performs above the mediocre level that allows the union to wail, gnash their teeth, and scream for more funding.
I hope that the staff of this school decide to give it another shot as a private school.
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I am the parent of a freshman at HTH Bayshore. My son has thrived at the school and loved the technology that is integrated into all aspects of his education. The school is about to embark on a two week immersion program where kids go and experience the world. The students had over 25 choices, my son choose the Silicon Valley Experience, described below.
Students will embark on a tour of Silicon Valley. We will visit and learn about its history, the players, the technology, and its future. Confirmed destinations include: Intel, The San Jose Tech Museum, The Mountain View Computer Museum, Microsoft Campus (Redmond, WA) and the NUMMI plant. Possible sites include: Apple Computer, Juniper Networks, and a couple of startup companies. We will also view a movie about Silicon Valley.
This was just one of 19 offerings to our HTH Bayshore students. Others included, The Big Apple, a San Francisco Arts Tour and more! What other public or private high schools are doing this!! We have to save this school!
We were first told that the owner of the building needed to sell to recoup back rent. We later found out that that owner was Gary Jacobs who sits on almost all the boards at HTH in San Diego. In one week, “poof” the building was sold out from under this community and we have been reeling ever since. Our students are devastated. No other school either PUBLIC or PRIVATE offers the kind of education the kids are receiving at HTH Bayshore. We should be opening more schools, not closing this one down!
I am pleading with Silicon Valley to keep this school open and challenge you to do something! We are not dead yet!
1) We need HTH San Diego to give us a memo of understanding to continue our five year charter with the state, that they control and governance from their organization.
2) We need a building for September to house 400 students.
3) We need FUNDING, Make contributions to:
Peninsula Parents Education Foundation,
P.O. Box 1154,
Menlo Park, CALIFORNIA 94025
If you know Larry Rosenstock please ask him to keep our charter! You can also e mail Jed Wallace the Chief Operating Officer of HTH Learning jwallace@hightechhigh.org.
I will leave you with some quotes from Michael a Latino freshman at HTH Bayshore when he was addressing the HTH San Diego based board last Friday.
“I am one of a million reasons to keep this school open . . . “
“I found teachers that care and learning that is exciting.”
“Please don’t send me back to Sequoia High School!”
Leslie
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I am the parent of a freshman at HTH Bayshore. My son has thrived at the school and loved the technology that is integrated into all aspects of his education. The school is about to embark on a two week immersion program where kids go and experience the world. The students had over 25 choices, my son choose the Silicon Valley Experience, described below.
Students will embark on a tour of Silicon Valley. We will visit and learn about its history, the players, the technology, and its future. Confirmed destinations include: Intel, The San Jose Tech Museum, The Mountain View Computer Museum, Microsoft Campus (Redmond, WA) and the NUMMI plant. Possible sites include: Apple Computer, Juniper Networks, and a couple of startup companies. We will also view a movie about Silicon Valley.
This was just one of 19 offerings to our HTH Bayshore students. Others included, The Big Apple, a San Francisco Arts Tour and more! What other public or private high schools are doing this!! We have to save this school!
We were first told that the owner of the building needed to sell to recoup back rent. We later found out that that owner was Gary Jacobs who sits on almost all the boards at HTH in San Diego. In one week, “poof” the building was sold out from under this community and we have been reeling ever since. Our students are devastated. No other school either PUBLIC or PRIVATE offers the kind of education the kids are receiving at HTH Bayshore. We should be opening more schools, not closing this one down!
I am pleading with Silicon Valley to keep this school open and challenge you to do something! We are not dead yet!
1) We need HTH San Diego to give us a memo of understanding to continue our five year charter with the state, that they control and governance from their organization.
2) We need a building for September to house 400 students.
3) We need FUNDING, Make contributions to:
Peninsula Parents Education Foundation,
P.O. Box 1154,
Menlo Park, CALIFORNIA 94025
If you know Larry Rosenstock please ask him to keep our charter! You can also e mail Jed Wallace the Chief Operating Officer of HTH Learning jwallace@hightechhigh.org.
I will leave you with some quotes from Michael a Latino freshman at HTH Bayshore when he was addressing the HTH San Diego based board last Friday.
“I am one of a million reasons to keep this school open . . . “
“I found teachers that care and learning that is exciting.”
“Please don’t send me back to Sequoia High School!”
Leslie
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Pardon me, but why ‘school you would want to send your SON to’? (scnr ;( )
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Pardon me, but why ‘school you would want to send your SON to’? (scnr ;( )
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OLiverG: because the author wrote ME an email and I have a 13-year-old son.
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OLiverG: because the author wrote ME an email and I have a 13-year-old son.
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“Making it a public school was fraught with peril from the beginning, because the NEA cartel is implacably hostile to any school that performs above the mediocre level that allows the union to wail, gnash their teeth, and scream for more funding.” —someone to cs to leave a name.
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Proof? Didn’t think so. Mindlessly parroting that bs is not going to keep this school open.
The federal government has been openly hostile to public education in the US starting with Brown vs. Board of Education, and currently reaching a fever pitch with NCLB, which mandates numerous financial burdens on local school systems without providing the funding.
Wealthy school districts (mine in the Western suburbs of Chicago is, fortunately) are able to absorb these costs, but districts that have been on poor financial footing are in serious trouble and closing many neighborhood schools.
The really sad part of NCLB is that many systems have been able to game it by holding marginal test-takers/poor performing students back a grade for a year and then skipping them ahead two years, bypassing NCLB testing.
Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education under President Bush, pioneered/pushed this while Superintendent of Schools at the Houston Independent School District in order to make schools under his watch appear to be improving in test performance.
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“Making it a public school was fraught with peril from the beginning, because the NEA cartel is implacably hostile to any school that performs above the mediocre level that allows the union to wail, gnash their teeth, and scream for more funding.” —someone to cs to leave a name.
–
Proof? Didn’t think so. Mindlessly parroting that bs is not going to keep this school open.
The federal government has been openly hostile to public education in the US starting with Brown vs. Board of Education, and currently reaching a fever pitch with NCLB, which mandates numerous financial burdens on local school systems without providing the funding.
Wealthy school districts (mine in the Western suburbs of Chicago is, fortunately) are able to absorb these costs, but districts that have been on poor financial footing are in serious trouble and closing many neighborhood schools.
The really sad part of NCLB is that many systems have been able to game it by holding marginal test-takers/poor performing students back a grade for a year and then skipping them ahead two years, bypassing NCLB testing.
Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education under President Bush, pioneered/pushed this while Superintendent of Schools at the Houston Independent School District in order to make schools under his watch appear to be improving in test performance.
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@7 “I am asking everybody to please help me and all of my friends save our school, High Tech High Bayshore.”
This is indeed sad. But the reason this is happening is because this is a gubmint school. The one good thing is that the students are getting a good education at an early age of how the gubmint will ultimately fail you when you rely on it to provide essential services.
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@7 “I am asking everybody to please help me and all of my friends save our school, High Tech High Bayshore.”
This is indeed sad. But the reason this is happening is because this is a gubmint school. The one good thing is that the students are getting a good education at an early age of how the gubmint will ultimately fail you when you rely on it to provide essential services.
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A number of comments have indicated that this is a government school and it failed because government is inherently incompetent.
While the school is public, it is a charter school, and not run by any government entity, but by a corporation.
Said corporation was granted a charter (hence the term “charter school”) by the local government to set up and run a school in the district.
If anyone had bothered to read further than the first few sentences and actually follow a few links, he’d find that closing the school was a corporate decision based on enrollment, and thus economics.
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A number of comments have indicated that this is a government school and it failed because government is inherently incompetent.
While the school is public, it is a charter school, and not run by any government entity, but by a corporation.
Said corporation was granted a charter (hence the term “charter school”) by the local government to set up and run a school in the district.
If anyone had bothered to read further than the first few sentences and actually follow a few links, he’d find that closing the school was a corporate decision based on enrollment, and thus economics.
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Woodside Priory High School’s annual tuition is $26,700. Pinewood’s is $21,00. The parents of students at High Tech High School should have realized HTHS was “to good to be true.”
Charter schools, while privately run, are government subsidized. School districts are generally hostile to charter schools because they siphon off significant funds, motivated, well-scoring students, and active, supportive parents.
To put it another way, if you were an administrator, would you enthusiastically cooperate with a school that takes your money, better students, and cooperative parents, but not your input?
Don’t get me wrong; parents are justified in being frustrated with their schools and their school’s administrators. But to “go it alone” and have the district pay for it sets up an inherently adversarial dynamic.
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Woodside Priory High School’s annual tuition is $26,700. Pinewood’s is $21,00. The parents of students at High Tech High School should have realized HTHS was “to good to be true.”
Charter schools, while privately run, are government subsidized. School districts are generally hostile to charter schools because they siphon off significant funds, motivated, well-scoring students, and active, supportive parents.
To put it another way, if you were an administrator, would you enthusiastically cooperate with a school that takes your money, better students, and cooperative parents, but not your input?
Don’t get me wrong; parents are justified in being frustrated with their schools and their school’s administrators. But to “go it alone” and have the district pay for it sets up an inherently adversarial dynamic.
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While I appreciate what Steve has to say, our point as parents and community members is that we would have liked the opportunity to garner financial support from the GREATER community.
We all understand the “drain” on the district, the cost of private school education (many parents are willing to donate a year’s tution to HTHB).
The failure to communicate TRUTH to us and give us a chance is what is most upsetting.
HTHBayshore is serving a community of bright students, this is true, but more importantly it is serving a community of students that do NOT receive the attention, support, and educational model that serves them best in the public schools.
There is a huge amount of untapped resources in the SF Bay Area.
This is a call to PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS IN OUR OWN BACKYARD.
This school deserves support.
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While I appreciate what Steve has to say, our point as parents and community members is that we would have liked the opportunity to garner financial support from the GREATER community.
We all understand the “drain” on the district, the cost of private school education (many parents are willing to donate a year’s tution to HTHB).
The failure to communicate TRUTH to us and give us a chance is what is most upsetting.
HTHBayshore is serving a community of bright students, this is true, but more importantly it is serving a community of students that do NOT receive the attention, support, and educational model that serves them best in the public schools.
There is a huge amount of untapped resources in the SF Bay Area.
This is a call to PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IS IN OUR OWN BACKYARD.
This school deserves support.
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Charter schools and this school in particular are trying to change the face of public education. This is a successful model small class size, integrated curriculum, project based , internships, immersion program (kids spend two weeks in the world traveling and learning), all the things that research bears out as WORKING to educate all kids. HTHB has minority kids, top students, kids with learning differences, every kid of kid and you know what? All the kids love their school and are being successful! Charter schools partner with the community for resources and DO NOT have to follow the usual regulations for district schools. Charter schools are a NEW model. We can’t let this one fail!
Leslie
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Charter schools and this school in particular are trying to change the face of public education. This is a successful model small class size, integrated curriculum, project based , internships, immersion program (kids spend two weeks in the world traveling and learning), all the things that research bears out as WORKING to educate all kids. HTHB has minority kids, top students, kids with learning differences, every kid of kid and you know what? All the kids love their school and are being successful! Charter schools partner with the community for resources and DO NOT have to follow the usual regulations for district schools. Charter schools are a NEW model. We can’t let this one fail!
Leslie
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“It’s sad that attempts to really improve our public school systems don’t get more attention.” – Robert
Even sadder that most people don’t realize the best thing for education is to get it out of the hands of the government.
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“It’s sad that attempts to really improve our public school systems don’t get more attention.” – Robert
Even sadder that most people don’t realize the best thing for education is to get it out of the hands of the government.
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@15. Whoa! Hang on a minute. As I understand it, isn’t there public funding to the tune of about $6800 per student???? Public funds come from…where? The gubmint? Ergo, gubmint funded school. And news reports say they are losing about a half million dollars a year??? Wow!!! How does the school plan to make that up without raising tuition or going hat in hand to the taxpayers to increase their “public funding”. What I find shocking is that given the “blue stateness” of Silicon Valley, the citizens aren’t clamoring for increased taxes to help this place out.
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@15. Whoa! Hang on a minute. As I understand it, isn’t there public funding to the tune of about $6800 per student???? Public funds come from…where? The gubmint? Ergo, gubmint funded school. And news reports say they are losing about a half million dollars a year??? Wow!!! How does the school plan to make that up without raising tuition or going hat in hand to the taxpayers to increase their “public funding”. What I find shocking is that given the “blue stateness” of Silicon Valley, the citizens aren’t clamoring for increased taxes to help this place out.
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“And news reports say they are losing about a half million dollars a year??? Wow!!! How does the school plan to make that up without raising tuition or going hat in hand to the taxpayers to increase their “public funding”.” LayZ
I just wanted to point out that charter schools have to get any EXTRA money from the communities they live in by fund raising events, corporations, grants, and philanthropists. Charters do not have tuition. They get a set amount from the state, $6800 and that is it. Most charters schools get a opening grant from the state and then they raise money from the community that wants them. That is the plea from us. Do you want a HTH in the bay area? Do we want it for our kids? Mistakes were made in starting this charter school and no one expected the organization in San Diego to dump us. They promised funding. They had no personal investment or attachment to the bay area. The cash got tight and out we went. Hopefully someone reading this does have an investment in the education of our bay area youth. The school could be breaking even in two to three years with a full enrollment. HTHB took over a small charter school in 2005. They had about 32 seniors this year, 72 juniors, 90 sophomores and 120 freshman. The upper grades were not going to fill, because of the unique curriculum at HTHB, the credits and schedule of classes is so different than the traditional school that it is harder to make a change and get credit for all your course work and most have to take summer school. So we needed to weather maybe one more year of low total enrollment, after that we should have full enrollment and we would be on steady ground. 400 hundred students, 100 at each grade is the general goal for HTHB. Hope this answers some questions. We could really save this school if the community stepped forward!
Leslie
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“And news reports say they are losing about a half million dollars a year??? Wow!!! How does the school plan to make that up without raising tuition or going hat in hand to the taxpayers to increase their “public funding”.” LayZ
I just wanted to point out that charter schools have to get any EXTRA money from the communities they live in by fund raising events, corporations, grants, and philanthropists. Charters do not have tuition. They get a set amount from the state, $6800 and that is it. Most charters schools get a opening grant from the state and then they raise money from the community that wants them. That is the plea from us. Do you want a HTH in the bay area? Do we want it for our kids? Mistakes were made in starting this charter school and no one expected the organization in San Diego to dump us. They promised funding. They had no personal investment or attachment to the bay area. The cash got tight and out we went. Hopefully someone reading this does have an investment in the education of our bay area youth. The school could be breaking even in two to three years with a full enrollment. HTHB took over a small charter school in 2005. They had about 32 seniors this year, 72 juniors, 90 sophomores and 120 freshman. The upper grades were not going to fill, because of the unique curriculum at HTHB, the credits and schedule of classes is so different than the traditional school that it is harder to make a change and get credit for all your course work and most have to take summer school. So we needed to weather maybe one more year of low total enrollment, after that we should have full enrollment and we would be on steady ground. 400 hundred students, 100 at each grade is the general goal for HTHB. Hope this answers some questions. We could really save this school if the community stepped forward!
Leslie
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My name is Brian and I am an incoming 9th grader at High Tech High Bayshore (HTHB). I have been home schooled for 9 years and it has been great because the schools in our area don’t meet my learning styles. I was really lucky to have parents that were willing to home school me. As I got older I wondered what regular school would be like. My parents discovered HTHB for my brother and really liked it. My brother started HTHB and has enjoyed it, so I decided I wanted to go there. I shadowed a couple months ago and loved it. Each month that has passed since I shadowed I have gotten more exited about going to HTHB next fall. On February 14th, Valentines Day I found out that my dream school (HTHB) would be closing. I was distraught about the news. High Tech High school board members said that they have to close the school because of finance and enrollment issues. They sold our building right from under our feet. The families thought our school was doing great because they were still recruiting 9th grade students up until February 3rd. HTH school board didn’t come to the HTHB parents and students to ask for financial support and plans to recruit more incoming 9th grade students.
I am asking for help not just for me but for the current students and all incoming students for all the years to come. The HTHB parents and students have been working tirelessly since February 14th coming up with ways to save our school. I am asking everybody to please contact the board members at High Tech High in San Diego and ask them to please give our parents some time to work on saving our school. The parents have also started a Peninsula Parents Education Foundation to prove to the HTH board that they are a committed group. We need FUNDING, please make contributions to:
Peninsula Parents Education Foundation,
P.O. Box 1154,
Menlo Park, CALIFORNIA 94025
Thanks for taking time to read my message. I hope I will someday be able to write about my many successes as a student at High Tech High Bayshore.
PLEASE HELP SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
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My name is Brian and I am an incoming 9th grader at High Tech High Bayshore (HTHB). I have been home schooled for 9 years and it has been great because the schools in our area don’t meet my learning styles. I was really lucky to have parents that were willing to home school me. As I got older I wondered what regular school would be like. My parents discovered HTHB for my brother and really liked it. My brother started HTHB and has enjoyed it, so I decided I wanted to go there. I shadowed a couple months ago and loved it. Each month that has passed since I shadowed I have gotten more exited about going to HTHB next fall. On February 14th, Valentines Day I found out that my dream school (HTHB) would be closing. I was distraught about the news. High Tech High school board members said that they have to close the school because of finance and enrollment issues. They sold our building right from under our feet. The families thought our school was doing great because they were still recruiting 9th grade students up until February 3rd. HTH school board didn’t come to the HTHB parents and students to ask for financial support and plans to recruit more incoming 9th grade students.
I am asking for help not just for me but for the current students and all incoming students for all the years to come. The HTHB parents and students have been working tirelessly since February 14th coming up with ways to save our school. I am asking everybody to please contact the board members at High Tech High in San Diego and ask them to please give our parents some time to work on saving our school. The parents have also started a Peninsula Parents Education Foundation to prove to the HTH board that they are a committed group. We need FUNDING, please make contributions to:
Peninsula Parents Education Foundation,
P.O. Box 1154,
Menlo Park, CALIFORNIA 94025
Thanks for taking time to read my message. I hope I will someday be able to write about my many successes as a student at High Tech High Bayshore.
PLEASE HELP SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
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It is sad to see so many good teachers get thrown to the wey-side. I have been reading these blogs and news articles for days and am wondering what High Tech High has done for these people. I read that they offered them “interviews” in San Diego. If I had to struggle through this situation I don’t think this would be too enticing. Parents seem to be commenting on the High Tech High system and how good it is. How do we know High Tech High had anything to do with these teacher’s classroom styles. I read that the board never even met in Northern California, so who is to believe that High Tech High offered any professional development. When a teacher’s average life span is c. 3 years it is a shame to see so many, that have been positively preached about, sitting on the curb. So many children have been affected and it is a shame that so many children may not be influenced by these people; at this institution or potentially any other.
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It is sad to see so many good teachers get thrown to the wey-side. I have been reading these blogs and news articles for days and am wondering what High Tech High has done for these people. I read that they offered them “interviews” in San Diego. If I had to struggle through this situation I don’t think this would be too enticing. Parents seem to be commenting on the High Tech High system and how good it is. How do we know High Tech High had anything to do with these teacher’s classroom styles. I read that the board never even met in Northern California, so who is to believe that High Tech High offered any professional development. When a teacher’s average life span is c. 3 years it is a shame to see so many, that have been positively preached about, sitting on the curb. So many children have been affected and it is a shame that so many children may not be influenced by these people; at this institution or potentially any other.
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This sounds a lot like the charter school I attend in Vacaville, about 45 minutes away from SF. I am an 18 year old Senior at Buckingham Charter Magnet High School (www.bcmhs.org). We too are a small (less than 400, including staff) school, and we are currently located in the middle of a shopping plaza (kind of weird to explain to people). We too are underfunded. We too have a teacher, student, and parent body of people that are grateful to be attending such a great school. There is nothing more motivating to students than a teacher that *loves* to teach. This is rare, but it seems like they are a commodity at Charter schools.
The public school system has been a *complete* failure, and in the future, all of these schools will be moving towards the small, community-oriented charter system. There is going to be a privatization of education in the near future. The educational problem that we face in America is much like the Social Security problem: large Public Schools have been a disaster, and charter schools are the only way we have been able to fix this problem.
I believe Buckingham is in it’s 5th or 6th year as a school (I am a senior), and we have quickly climbed to the #2 school in our district as far as performance. There is obviously something unique about this type of education; when you put academia back to the forefront of school, you will see a major change in student performance.
Just logically think about it: public schools have major gang, drug and alcohol problems (which is obviously different depending on where you live). When you come to a charter school with 360 kids and a waiting list of 200 students, there is a huge culture change. Suddenly gangs can be carefully watched; teachers begin to know their students personally; counselors care about getting their students into college. I love Charter schools.
One thing I do miss is the sports and school pride/history that goes along with going to a large public school. But who cares? I’ve gotten a much better education at Buckingham than I would have at any other school in my district, I am convinced of this. With that being said, I *still* think the education system has failed to fully prepare me for a University (Stanford/Santa Clara) like I think it should have. The only way to get around that is:
Private schooling.
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This sounds a lot like the charter school I attend in Vacaville, about 45 minutes away from SF. I am an 18 year old Senior at Buckingham Charter Magnet High School (www.bcmhs.org). We too are a small (less than 400, including staff) school, and we are currently located in the middle of a shopping plaza (kind of weird to explain to people). We too are underfunded. We too have a teacher, student, and parent body of people that are grateful to be attending such a great school. There is nothing more motivating to students than a teacher that *loves* to teach. This is rare, but it seems like they are a commodity at Charter schools.
The public school system has been a *complete* failure, and in the future, all of these schools will be moving towards the small, community-oriented charter system. There is going to be a privatization of education in the near future. The educational problem that we face in America is much like the Social Security problem: large Public Schools have been a disaster, and charter schools are the only way we have been able to fix this problem.
I believe Buckingham is in it’s 5th or 6th year as a school (I am a senior), and we have quickly climbed to the #2 school in our district as far as performance. There is obviously something unique about this type of education; when you put academia back to the forefront of school, you will see a major change in student performance.
Just logically think about it: public schools have major gang, drug and alcohol problems (which is obviously different depending on where you live). When you come to a charter school with 360 kids and a waiting list of 200 students, there is a huge culture change. Suddenly gangs can be carefully watched; teachers begin to know their students personally; counselors care about getting their students into college. I love Charter schools.
One thing I do miss is the sports and school pride/history that goes along with going to a large public school. But who cares? I’ve gotten a much better education at Buckingham than I would have at any other school in my district, I am convinced of this. With that being said, I *still* think the education system has failed to fully prepare me for a University (Stanford/Santa Clara) like I think it should have. The only way to get around that is:
Private schooling.
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The struggle for quality education continues.
Above, Leslie mentioned the foundation created by our parent community in response to the lack of “viability” Larry Rosenstock claimed as reason for closure of our campus.
In the Silicon Valley, such a school shouldn’t have to beg for support.
http://savehightechhighbayshore.blogspot.com/
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The struggle for quality education continues.
Above, Leslie mentioned the foundation created by our parent community in response to the lack of “viability” Larry Rosenstock claimed as reason for closure of our campus.
In the Silicon Valley, such a school shouldn’t have to beg for support.
http://savehightechhighbayshore.blogspot.com/
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@27. But if I’m a parent of a child not attending HTH, getting taxed up the ying yang not only to pay for my school,but for yours (that’s where that $6800 tuition subsidy comes from–the people you are begging more money from), and getting asked by my school to fill in the gaps in funding from the gubmint by supporting fundraisers, it’s going to be hard sell for me to feel any sympathy for HTH’s plight. I’m having a hard enough time making my own kid’s gubmint school work.
How do you explain the school losing a half million dollars a year? That’s a hell of a lot of funding to make up. Sounds like there are deeper problems than simply a shortage in funding. How can the school guarantee the public they won’t continue to lose money?
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@27. But if I’m a parent of a child not attending HTH, getting taxed up the ying yang not only to pay for my school,but for yours (that’s where that $6800 tuition subsidy comes from–the people you are begging more money from), and getting asked by my school to fill in the gaps in funding from the gubmint by supporting fundraisers, it’s going to be hard sell for me to feel any sympathy for HTH’s plight. I’m having a hard enough time making my own kid’s gubmint school work.
How do you explain the school losing a half million dollars a year? That’s a hell of a lot of funding to make up. Sounds like there are deeper problems than simply a shortage in funding. How can the school guarantee the public they won’t continue to lose money?
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Mr. Scoble, shame on you!
“Take a look at the website and tell me this is not a school you would want to send your son to:
How about your daughter?
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Mr. Scoble, shame on you!
“Take a look at the website and tell me this is not a school you would want to send your son to:
How about your daughter?
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Liz: read it again. I reprinted an email to ME. That stuff was NOT written by me. I don’t have a daughter.
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Liz: read it again. I reprinted an email to ME. That stuff was NOT written by me. I don’t have a daughter.
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Sorry, Robert, I didn’t grasp where your writing left off and your correspondent’s started.
In my view, HTH made three fundamental errors:
1. locating in San Mateo County, rather than Santa Clara county. SMC’s population is much smaller than SCC’s; SMC has some good public high schools and a good charter (Summit); and is well-supplied with private high schools. I’m not a charter expert, but I think it is difficult for charters to accept out-of-county students. The ability to accept students from any district/county is one of the private schools’ competitive advantages.
2. Fundraising. I’m not sure how much Summit raises per year, but I know they started with a big war chest from private donations and aim to raise at least $100,000 per year; take a look at their donation page here.
http://www.summitprep.com/HowGiveToSummit.shtml
HTH-B doesn’t even have a donation page.
3. Marketing: HTH did not seem to reach out to parents as well as the private schools and Summit.
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Sorry, Robert, I didn’t grasp where your writing left off and your correspondent’s started.
In my view, HTH made three fundamental errors:
1. locating in San Mateo County, rather than Santa Clara county. SMC’s population is much smaller than SCC’s; SMC has some good public high schools and a good charter (Summit); and is well-supplied with private high schools. I’m not a charter expert, but I think it is difficult for charters to accept out-of-county students. The ability to accept students from any district/county is one of the private schools’ competitive advantages.
2. Fundraising. I’m not sure how much Summit raises per year, but I know they started with a big war chest from private donations and aim to raise at least $100,000 per year; take a look at their donation page here.
http://www.summitprep.com/HowGiveToSummit.shtml
HTH-B doesn’t even have a donation page.
3. Marketing: HTH did not seem to reach out to parents as well as the private schools and Summit.
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28–LayZ: You’re really missing the point in all of this. Your child, as well as ANY child who attends PUBLIC schools can attend High Tech High. The point is, state taxes pay for our children’s education REGARDLESS. The biggest expense to the High Tech High Charter schools are the buildings they exist in. EVEN public schools have fundraisers…
The advantage of Charter schools like High Tech High are that they work with an educational model that honors children WHERE THEY ARE and guides them through mentorship and commitment to WHERE THEY WANT TO BE.
I have raised 4-children. Two daughters, 2 sons (my youngest still in high school). Of my 4 only ONE of them has been able to succeed and reach her potential in the public school system. She graduated from UC San Diego, and is presently teaching 8th grade English and social studies at a low income school in San Jose.
She NEVER chose to join the teacher’s union, yet union fees are taken from every pay check! She is the one who encouraged me to enroll her little brother into High Tech High, having had some experience with their methods while attending UCSD. She would be the first to tell you she succeeded academically out of sheer will because she has known since the fourth grade that she wanted to teach and there was only one path to a teaching credential.
She would also tell you, that although she met her goals through the public school system, she could have been MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL had she been given the opportunity to attend a school like HIGH TECH HIGH.
This isn’t about where the money comes from… as a taxpayer, I pay for education whether children are getting educated or not! The difference in what the “gubmint” contributes and what the schools need to succeed MUST come from partnerships with the business community and local fundraising efforts.
Children in these PUBLIC CHARTERS are getting a PRIVATE SCHOOL EDUCATION and they are entering the adult business world with problem solving skills, confidence, and the possibility of TRANSFORMATION!
As for High Tech High Bayshore, the loss of $500,000 per year WAS NEVER COMMUNICATED TO THE PARENT COMMUNITY. We are ASKING FOR A CHANCE to support this educational model in our community.
Our school serves a community that stretches way beyond our suburban neighborhood to areas where students enter high school with little hope. Take a look at a map of the San Francisco Bay Area and locate these cities:
Burlingame, San Mateo, Half Moon Bay, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Foster City, San Jose, Los Altos, Fremont, Hayward, Castro Valley.
Investment in Education is an investment in the Future.
-kim
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28–LayZ: You’re really missing the point in all of this. Your child, as well as ANY child who attends PUBLIC schools can attend High Tech High. The point is, state taxes pay for our children’s education REGARDLESS. The biggest expense to the High Tech High Charter schools are the buildings they exist in. EVEN public schools have fundraisers…
The advantage of Charter schools like High Tech High are that they work with an educational model that honors children WHERE THEY ARE and guides them through mentorship and commitment to WHERE THEY WANT TO BE.
I have raised 4-children. Two daughters, 2 sons (my youngest still in high school). Of my 4 only ONE of them has been able to succeed and reach her potential in the public school system. She graduated from UC San Diego, and is presently teaching 8th grade English and social studies at a low income school in San Jose.
She NEVER chose to join the teacher’s union, yet union fees are taken from every pay check! She is the one who encouraged me to enroll her little brother into High Tech High, having had some experience with their methods while attending UCSD. She would be the first to tell you she succeeded academically out of sheer will because she has known since the fourth grade that she wanted to teach and there was only one path to a teaching credential.
She would also tell you, that although she met her goals through the public school system, she could have been MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL had she been given the opportunity to attend a school like HIGH TECH HIGH.
This isn’t about where the money comes from… as a taxpayer, I pay for education whether children are getting educated or not! The difference in what the “gubmint” contributes and what the schools need to succeed MUST come from partnerships with the business community and local fundraising efforts.
Children in these PUBLIC CHARTERS are getting a PRIVATE SCHOOL EDUCATION and they are entering the adult business world with problem solving skills, confidence, and the possibility of TRANSFORMATION!
As for High Tech High Bayshore, the loss of $500,000 per year WAS NEVER COMMUNICATED TO THE PARENT COMMUNITY. We are ASKING FOR A CHANCE to support this educational model in our community.
Our school serves a community that stretches way beyond our suburban neighborhood to areas where students enter high school with little hope. Take a look at a map of the San Francisco Bay Area and locate these cities:
Burlingame, San Mateo, Half Moon Bay, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Foster City, San Jose, Los Altos, Fremont, Hayward, Castro Valley.
Investment in Education is an investment in the Future.
-kim
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Liz- You’re right about all but one point. The location has not been the problem. Our school serves a very BROAD community (see 32).
As for fundraising, you make an interesting point, and if you were truly caught up on the entire story you would learn that as a community we were NEVER TOLD about the financial problems. We were lead to believe the school owned the building we reside in.
However, we have coalesced as a powerful group to create new possibilities for the future of our school.
http://savehightechhighbayshore.blogspot.com/
Thanks for you thoughts!
-kim
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Liz- You’re right about all but one point. The location has not been the problem. Our school serves a very BROAD community (see 32).
As for fundraising, you make an interesting point, and if you were truly caught up on the entire story you would learn that as a community we were NEVER TOLD about the financial problems. We were lead to believe the school owned the building we reside in.
However, we have coalesced as a powerful group to create new possibilities for the future of our school.
http://savehightechhighbayshore.blogspot.com/
Thanks for you thoughts!
-kim
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Kimberly, I’m not missing the point at all. I do, indeed understand how Charter schools work. My point, with citizens already getting taxed to death you have a hard time guilting them into donating to a school they don’t have a direct interest in. Saying “investing in Education” sounds like Algore tell us raising taxes is an “investment”. Unless your kid is going to that school, it’s hard for people to feel compelled to donate . How does me investing in HTH help my kid that doesn’t go there? Parents have hard enough time make sure the schools their kids go to are being effective.
“As for High Tech High Bayshore, the loss of $500,000 per year WAS NEVER COMMUNICATED TO THE PARENT COMMUNITY. We are ASKING FOR A CHANCE to support this educational model in our community.”
Whether is was communicated or not is sort of moot. The loss is the loss. If I’m in that community I will have a lot of questions regarding WHY I should help make up the deficit (again a HALF MILLION DOLLARS is A LOT to make up)? Then, what assurances does the community have that the school won’t continue to be in debt and lose money, and that every year you won’t be coming back to the community with your hand out?
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Kimberly, I’m not missing the point at all. I do, indeed understand how Charter schools work. My point, with citizens already getting taxed to death you have a hard time guilting them into donating to a school they don’t have a direct interest in. Saying “investing in Education” sounds like Algore tell us raising taxes is an “investment”. Unless your kid is going to that school, it’s hard for people to feel compelled to donate . How does me investing in HTH help my kid that doesn’t go there? Parents have hard enough time make sure the schools their kids go to are being effective.
“As for High Tech High Bayshore, the loss of $500,000 per year WAS NEVER COMMUNICATED TO THE PARENT COMMUNITY. We are ASKING FOR A CHANCE to support this educational model in our community.”
Whether is was communicated or not is sort of moot. The loss is the loss. If I’m in that community I will have a lot of questions regarding WHY I should help make up the deficit (again a HALF MILLION DOLLARS is A LOT to make up)? Then, what assurances does the community have that the school won’t continue to be in debt and lose money, and that every year you won’t be coming back to the community with your hand out?
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LayZ — Most charter schools fundraise, as the remuneration to the state is inadequate. For that matter, most public school districts in CA fundraise.
There were four sources of the deficit, as I understand it:
1. Big facility not fully enrolled yet, as school is new (in other words, only a 9th &10th grade class, not full enrollment). This is SOP for starting a new school, start with one-two grades and “grow’ the enrollment over several years.
2. Underenrollment (they didn’t meet their enrollment goals)
3. Undercapitalization
4. Failure on the part of High Tech High School to raise money from parents and community.
Another charter, in San Jose, serves underperforming students. Only 70% of its operating costs are covered by funding by the state.
http://www.downtowncollegeprep.org/community_partners.php
Downtown College Prep has created a unique cultural and academic experience for its students. We are proud to be associated with the San Jose Unified School District. Since DCP is a public school, we do not charge tuition. During the past school year, 70% of DCP’s operating budget came from government sources. DCP additionally fundraised over $1,000,000.
http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/sanjose/content/story.html?id=1022544
A lot of start-up charters are like small businesses,” Mr. O’Connell says. “They are undercapitalized and in their initial stages and we are still learning a lot.”
Although charters get less financial support than public schools, the LAO report said they “achieve academic results similar to those of traditional public schools,” which means charters are cost-effective.
Tuition at a nearby private school, Castilleja, is $27,605
http://www.castilleja.org/publications/atc/2006.07/ATC_010.pdf
The gap between the tuition revenue and the actual cost of running the school is about $3,000 per student; last year’s fundraising goal to meet that gap was $1.4 million.
That’s on top of an endowment of about $35 million.
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LayZ — Most charter schools fundraise, as the remuneration to the state is inadequate. For that matter, most public school districts in CA fundraise.
There were four sources of the deficit, as I understand it:
1. Big facility not fully enrolled yet, as school is new (in other words, only a 9th &10th grade class, not full enrollment). This is SOP for starting a new school, start with one-two grades and “grow’ the enrollment over several years.
2. Underenrollment (they didn’t meet their enrollment goals)
3. Undercapitalization
4. Failure on the part of High Tech High School to raise money from parents and community.
Another charter, in San Jose, serves underperforming students. Only 70% of its operating costs are covered by funding by the state.
http://www.downtowncollegeprep.org/community_partners.php
Downtown College Prep has created a unique cultural and academic experience for its students. We are proud to be associated with the San Jose Unified School District. Since DCP is a public school, we do not charge tuition. During the past school year, 70% of DCP’s operating budget came from government sources. DCP additionally fundraised over $1,000,000.
http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/sanjose/content/story.html?id=1022544
A lot of start-up charters are like small businesses,” Mr. O’Connell says. “They are undercapitalized and in their initial stages and we are still learning a lot.”
Although charters get less financial support than public schools, the LAO report said they “achieve academic results similar to those of traditional public schools,” which means charters are cost-effective.
Tuition at a nearby private school, Castilleja, is $27,605
http://www.castilleja.org/publications/atc/2006.07/ATC_010.pdf
The gap between the tuition revenue and the actual cost of running the school is about $3,000 per student; last year’s fundraising goal to meet that gap was $1.4 million.
That’s on top of an endowment of about $35 million.
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I’m actually the IT Manager for a fundraising company that works with schools. And I will definitely backup the fact that the government funding does not cover the cost of schools (or I wouldn’t have a job ;-)). Often times it’s the core classes that are covered as well, groups like Music, Technology, etc. have to work hard to be able to continue to exist.
@LayZ – That’s a point of view that you have, however I can tell you that a lot of people buy products/support other schools or other causes because it is something they believe in, that is important.
Good luck on the process of trying to keep this school opened (and email me if I/my company can help james(at)scoolservices(dot)com
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I’m actually the IT Manager for a fundraising company that works with schools. And I will definitely backup the fact that the government funding does not cover the cost of schools (or I wouldn’t have a job ;-)). Often times it’s the core classes that are covered as well, groups like Music, Technology, etc. have to work hard to be able to continue to exist.
@LayZ – That’s a point of view that you have, however I can tell you that a lot of people buy products/support other schools or other causes because it is something they believe in, that is important.
Good luck on the process of trying to keep this school opened (and email me if I/my company can help james(at)scoolservices(dot)com
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A government school closing? How can this be? I thought the govt could solve everything? I so disillusioned now.
http://genpop.info
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A government school closing? How can this be? I thought the govt could solve everything? I so disillusioned now.
http://genpop.info
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An important point here is that once HTHB is fully enrolled, I estimate that it could be successful on a similar funding plan as Summit Prep with 80% of it’s revenues coming from the state.
LayZ- I understand as a parent that you may want to give to your own child’s school. We are asking the community and the Silicon Valley about whether they want this school. Do Tech companies want well educated students? Do they want schools that look different than what their grand parents saw when they walked in their high schools over 75 to 100 years ago? Think of how society has changed? How have traditional schools changed? We need schools based on 21st century research and technology. Does this matter to our society? Charter schools also make for a more competitive public school arena and large public schools take notice and try and change to keep their students at their district schools. If the school districts cared as much about kids and education as they cared about their power, they would be cheering Charter schools on and trying to support them! Not suing them at every turn. HTHB had to endure false accusations, refusal to fund, refusal to charter and a very hostile environment was created for them by Sequoia Union High School District. I think that this was a factor in HTH San Diego’s decision to cut and run!
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An important point here is that once HTHB is fully enrolled, I estimate that it could be successful on a similar funding plan as Summit Prep with 80% of it’s revenues coming from the state.
LayZ- I understand as a parent that you may want to give to your own child’s school. We are asking the community and the Silicon Valley about whether they want this school. Do Tech companies want well educated students? Do they want schools that look different than what their grand parents saw when they walked in their high schools over 75 to 100 years ago? Think of how society has changed? How have traditional schools changed? We need schools based on 21st century research and technology. Does this matter to our society? Charter schools also make for a more competitive public school arena and large public schools take notice and try and change to keep their students at their district schools. If the school districts cared as much about kids and education as they cared about their power, they would be cheering Charter schools on and trying to support them! Not suing them at every turn. HTHB had to endure false accusations, refusal to fund, refusal to charter and a very hostile environment was created for them by Sequoia Union High School District. I think that this was a factor in HTH San Diego’s decision to cut and run!
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According to the San Mateo Daily News on February 22, 2007
Next year’s freshman class, for example, has 150 openings. Only 60 applications were filed. The school receives $6,300 per student per year. A shortage of 90 students is a $567,000 difference in the school’s budget.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20070223-9999-1m23hightech.html
San Diego’s High Tech High campuses had almost 3,000 applicants seeking 285 openings last year
Parents at HTH-B are understandably upset about the HTH-B’s closing. I really feel for them, and especially for the kids who felt they had a place to be successful in school — and have been displaced. Nevertheless:
The key difference between the Southern California HTH schools (which are thriving) and HTH-B is this:
For every HTH seat in Southern Californa, there are 10 kids (read families) applying/in the lottery.
For every HTH-B seat, there are .4 kids kids (read families) applying.
Why? What is the difference? What did HTH do right in SoCal, and failed to do in Northern Califonia?
Reading the previous comments, blaming the Silicon Valley for “a lack of interest”, or the chartering school district, or the “NEA cartel”, or the building’s owner,….
Is a distraction from the two real issues here.
Issue #1 — attracting students to a new school (charter or private) requires marketing.
Issue #2 — starting a new school requires investment without the expectation of a financial return.
One of the fundamental theories about charter schools is “bringing market forces to bear” on an assumed monopoly–public schooling.
Well, gee, if you are going to bring market forces to bear, you have to act like an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship, in k-12 education, has some features:
1. starting a new school, even with a successful template from elsewhere, is hard work
2. starting a new school (charter or private) requires philanthropic investment while in the growth phase. I am distinguishing philanthropic investment –meaning giving money without the expectation of return, from venture capital, where return on investment is demanded.
3. all schools that are dependent upon elective enrollment require marketing–both for philanthropic investment and enrollment.
4. Marketing means getting the word out
Were I directly involved with HTH-B, I’d want to know the answers to at least these questions:
The best referral is from a satisfied customer. What efforts did the HTH administration from Southern California make to bring satisfied SoCal parents to Northern California, to evangelize the HTH model?
The best referral is from a satisfied customer. What efforts did the HTH-B make to have current parents host “get acquainted” meetings with the parents’ neighbors and friends?
There are a lot of youth organizations in San Mateo and Santa Clara County (examples: 4-H, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, youth theater/performing arts groups, non-school sports leagues, Boys & Girls Clubs, home-school alliances, etc.) What efforts did the HTH-B administration make to build relationships with these groups?
There are a lot of k-8 private schools in San Mateo and Santa Clara County. How many of those schools did the HTH-B administration visit, with an eye to attracting students?
In San Mateo County and Santa Clara County, there are a number of small-circulation weekly papers. What press releases about the school did the school distribute?
In San Mateo County and Santa Clara County, there are a number of small-circulation weekly papers Did HTH-B advertise in any of these papers? If no, why not? If yes, show me the ads, and show me the insertion schedule.
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According to the San Mateo Daily News on February 22, 2007
Next year’s freshman class, for example, has 150 openings. Only 60 applications were filed. The school receives $6,300 per student per year. A shortage of 90 students is a $567,000 difference in the school’s budget.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20070223-9999-1m23hightech.html
San Diego’s High Tech High campuses had almost 3,000 applicants seeking 285 openings last year
Parents at HTH-B are understandably upset about the HTH-B’s closing. I really feel for them, and especially for the kids who felt they had a place to be successful in school — and have been displaced. Nevertheless:
The key difference between the Southern California HTH schools (which are thriving) and HTH-B is this:
For every HTH seat in Southern Californa, there are 10 kids (read families) applying/in the lottery.
For every HTH-B seat, there are .4 kids kids (read families) applying.
Why? What is the difference? What did HTH do right in SoCal, and failed to do in Northern Califonia?
Reading the previous comments, blaming the Silicon Valley for “a lack of interest”, or the chartering school district, or the “NEA cartel”, or the building’s owner,….
Is a distraction from the two real issues here.
Issue #1 — attracting students to a new school (charter or private) requires marketing.
Issue #2 — starting a new school requires investment without the expectation of a financial return.
One of the fundamental theories about charter schools is “bringing market forces to bear” on an assumed monopoly–public schooling.
Well, gee, if you are going to bring market forces to bear, you have to act like an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship, in k-12 education, has some features:
1. starting a new school, even with a successful template from elsewhere, is hard work
2. starting a new school (charter or private) requires philanthropic investment while in the growth phase. I am distinguishing philanthropic investment –meaning giving money without the expectation of return, from venture capital, where return on investment is demanded.
3. all schools that are dependent upon elective enrollment require marketing–both for philanthropic investment and enrollment.
4. Marketing means getting the word out
Were I directly involved with HTH-B, I’d want to know the answers to at least these questions:
The best referral is from a satisfied customer. What efforts did the HTH administration from Southern California make to bring satisfied SoCal parents to Northern California, to evangelize the HTH model?
The best referral is from a satisfied customer. What efforts did the HTH-B make to have current parents host “get acquainted” meetings with the parents’ neighbors and friends?
There are a lot of youth organizations in San Mateo and Santa Clara County (examples: 4-H, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, youth theater/performing arts groups, non-school sports leagues, Boys & Girls Clubs, home-school alliances, etc.) What efforts did the HTH-B administration make to build relationships with these groups?
There are a lot of k-8 private schools in San Mateo and Santa Clara County. How many of those schools did the HTH-B administration visit, with an eye to attracting students?
In San Mateo County and Santa Clara County, there are a number of small-circulation weekly papers. What press releases about the school did the school distribute?
In San Mateo County and Santa Clara County, there are a number of small-circulation weekly papers Did HTH-B advertise in any of these papers? If no, why not? If yes, show me the ads, and show me the insertion schedule.
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@38 Then you have to show the benefits to the community today. How will the citizens benefit. People only have a certain amount of disposable income and they are being pulled and guilted into a plethora of charities and “good causes” to “invest” in. So, what is HTH doing to distinguish itself as a “good investment” against all the other people with their hand out? The parent that can’t afford to send their kids to HTH are hardly going to see the benefit if helping to send Johnny from down the street to the school.
The arguments you make are based more on guilt than actual benefit. Sure, we all want good schools, lower taxes, cheaper healthcare, peace in the middle east, and a chicken in every pot. But most people are simply concerned with getting through life day by day, making sure the bills are paid, and making sure their own kids are getting a good education. As selfish as it sounds they don’t don’t really care about YOUR kids’ education. That’s YOUR problem to solve, not theirs. They have hard enough time dealing with their own issues. So, unless you can make a VERY COMPELLING case for society benefiting, it’s going to be a very hard sell to have the community to continue to support a school that loses a HALF MILLION DOLLARS a year, regardless of the quality of student they turn out.
Liz points on the reasons the school is a money loser. So, it seems that there are bigger issues to solve beyond asking for more money and extolling the theoretical benefits of HTH. Is the school was so compelling one has to ask why they couldn’t easily meet their enrollment goals? So, again I ask: what is the plan to no longer be losing money? Continue to beg for more? According to Liz, that plan hasn’t been working to date.
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@38 Then you have to show the benefits to the community today. How will the citizens benefit. People only have a certain amount of disposable income and they are being pulled and guilted into a plethora of charities and “good causes” to “invest” in. So, what is HTH doing to distinguish itself as a “good investment” against all the other people with their hand out? The parent that can’t afford to send their kids to HTH are hardly going to see the benefit if helping to send Johnny from down the street to the school.
The arguments you make are based more on guilt than actual benefit. Sure, we all want good schools, lower taxes, cheaper healthcare, peace in the middle east, and a chicken in every pot. But most people are simply concerned with getting through life day by day, making sure the bills are paid, and making sure their own kids are getting a good education. As selfish as it sounds they don’t don’t really care about YOUR kids’ education. That’s YOUR problem to solve, not theirs. They have hard enough time dealing with their own issues. So, unless you can make a VERY COMPELLING case for society benefiting, it’s going to be a very hard sell to have the community to continue to support a school that loses a HALF MILLION DOLLARS a year, regardless of the quality of student they turn out.
Liz points on the reasons the school is a money loser. So, it seems that there are bigger issues to solve beyond asking for more money and extolling the theoretical benefits of HTH. Is the school was so compelling one has to ask why they couldn’t easily meet their enrollment goals? So, again I ask: what is the plan to no longer be losing money? Continue to beg for more? According to Liz, that plan hasn’t been working to date.
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LayZ It is great that you are continuing the conversation.
1) Any student can go to HTHB it is a public school with NO tuition.
2) The enrollment issue is really an excuse for HTH San Diego to get out of its promises to HTHB. I tried to explain this before, but the fact that we were attracting over 100 students for freshman this year and 100 freshman the year before shows that the interest is there and we would likely be fully enrolled in one more year. The applications in the office on the day we were told we were closing were 105 in February. Last year in February we had 40 applicants and 120 freshman started school in the fall. The goal for HTHB is to have 100 kids per grade. This is a business venture and the money should have been set aside to cover the costs of the low enrollment of the upper grades, THIS IS NOT A LONG TERM PROBLEM. Read my above post for reasons why the upper grades will not fill up.
2) HTH San Diego, I believe, needed to get cash quickly to fund its two new schools in the San Diego area and decided to pull out of HTHB.
3) HTH San Diego did not use their asset of satisfied customers at all and we are trying to get the word out now. They spent $70,000 dollars last summer putting billboards on buses in Redwood City (no joke) and wondered why they did not get any return for their money. Parents have settled on their children’s high schools by June. We as a parent community had no idea this was happening.
4) They put the school up here and for whatever reasons did not commit the time, money or resources to start the school in a way that would help the school succeed to its fullest.They missed out on the biggest resource they had the parents!
5) They still are an organization that has an excellent plan to educate kids and we are trying to get them to work with us even if the building is sold so we can keep our charter and keep the school alive.
Leslie
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LayZ It is great that you are continuing the conversation.
1) Any student can go to HTHB it is a public school with NO tuition.
2) The enrollment issue is really an excuse for HTH San Diego to get out of its promises to HTHB. I tried to explain this before, but the fact that we were attracting over 100 students for freshman this year and 100 freshman the year before shows that the interest is there and we would likely be fully enrolled in one more year. The applications in the office on the day we were told we were closing were 105 in February. Last year in February we had 40 applicants and 120 freshman started school in the fall. The goal for HTHB is to have 100 kids per grade. This is a business venture and the money should have been set aside to cover the costs of the low enrollment of the upper grades, THIS IS NOT A LONG TERM PROBLEM. Read my above post for reasons why the upper grades will not fill up.
2) HTH San Diego, I believe, needed to get cash quickly to fund its two new schools in the San Diego area and decided to pull out of HTHB.
3) HTH San Diego did not use their asset of satisfied customers at all and we are trying to get the word out now. They spent $70,000 dollars last summer putting billboards on buses in Redwood City (no joke) and wondered why they did not get any return for their money. Parents have settled on their children’s high schools by June. We as a parent community had no idea this was happening.
4) They put the school up here and for whatever reasons did not commit the time, money or resources to start the school in a way that would help the school succeed to its fullest.They missed out on the biggest resource they had the parents!
5) They still are an organization that has an excellent plan to educate kids and we are trying to get them to work with us even if the building is sold so we can keep our charter and keep the school alive.
Leslie
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Leslie, thanks for the additional insight. Seems like HTH has some internal management issues to address and some critical marketing to do before they can get the community to rally around them and see the value. Hiring a PR firm might be in order. The “losing money” issue is a huge thing to overcome. Now, I’m sure I came off as unsympathetic. It was not intentional and for that I apologize. I’m more than willing to help fund any initiative that improves education. However, for this particular issue, given the current circumstances surrounding HTH, ff I’m a citizen I might feel like my money is going to waste as I don’t see a plan for them being successful in the long run.
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Leslie, thanks for the additional insight. Seems like HTH has some internal management issues to address and some critical marketing to do before they can get the community to rally around them and see the value. Hiring a PR firm might be in order. The “losing money” issue is a huge thing to overcome. Now, I’m sure I came off as unsympathetic. It was not intentional and for that I apologize. I’m more than willing to help fund any initiative that improves education. However, for this particular issue, given the current circumstances surrounding HTH, ff I’m a citizen I might feel like my money is going to waste as I don’t see a plan for them being successful in the long run.
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SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
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SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
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SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
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SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
SAVE HIGH TECH HIGH BAYSHORE!
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This is a great video to demonstrate why High Tech High is so great.
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This is a great video to demonstrate why High Tech High is so great.
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OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
iM FROM HTHB
i WAS A SOPHOMORE
WHEN i FOUND OUT iT WAS GOIn G TO BE CLOSED
NOW iM A JUNiOR AT SEQUOiA
iM ACTUALLY HERE RiGHT NOW
iN THEiR LiBRARY BECAUSE i DONT HAVE A 1ST PERiOD CLASS!
i MiSS HTHB SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
iT SUCKS HERE
i MiSS MS TUCCi & MS DALTON TOO =/
UGH STUPiD SEQUOiA STOLE OUR BUiLDiNG
OH N SOMEONE CROSSED OFF SUMMiT ON THE FRON OF THE BUiLDiNG
& WROTE HTHB
BUT THOSE WHORES TOOK iT OFF ALREADY =/
LOL i KNO WHO IT WAS TOO!
SO YEA i STiLL LOVE YU HTHB
iLL NEVER FORGET THE TWO YEARS i SPENT THERE
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OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
iM FROM HTHB
i WAS A SOPHOMORE
WHEN i FOUND OUT iT WAS GOIn G TO BE CLOSED
NOW iM A JUNiOR AT SEQUOiA
iM ACTUALLY HERE RiGHT NOW
iN THEiR LiBRARY BECAUSE i DONT HAVE A 1ST PERiOD CLASS!
i MiSS HTHB SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
iT SUCKS HERE
i MiSS MS TUCCi & MS DALTON TOO =/
UGH STUPiD SEQUOiA STOLE OUR BUiLDiNG
OH N SOMEONE CROSSED OFF SUMMiT ON THE FRON OF THE BUiLDiNG
& WROTE HTHB
BUT THOSE WHORES TOOK iT OFF ALREADY =/
LOL i KNO WHO IT WAS TOO!
SO YEA i STiLL LOVE YU HTHB
iLL NEVER FORGET THE TWO YEARS i SPENT THERE
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i MiSS HTHB!=[
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i MiSS HTHB!=[
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