Prototype Issue
High Tech High
By Blaise Morita
(page 1 of 1)A new charter school with a college-prep, math, science and tech-oriented curriculum is drawing interested students and parents alike from across LA, including many from minority and low-income neighborhoods. The lure is the prospect of a quality education focused on technological advancements.
Former LA school board member Roberta Weintraub dreamed up the idea more than five years ago and dubbed it High Tech High LA. The dream school is housed in an ultra-modern building nestled in the vast campus of Birmingham High School in Van Nuys.
Sponsored by The Lowell Milken Family Foundation (Lowell Milken is the brother of Michael Milken, the investment banker who turned philanthropist after a stint in jail), the school broke ground in June 2003 and is managed by a nonprofit foundation in conjunction with the Los Angeles Unified School District. Building and equipping it cost $13 million in public, foundation and private funds.
High Tech High was built for about 325 students and reflects current educational thinking on the importance of small high schools to foster individual attention, collaborative learning and courses tailored to students’ talents and interests. It uses the latest technology to prepare them for the rapidly changing workplace.
About 200 students, or two-thirds of the student body, are low-income LA-area residents. The arduous selection process includes candidate-written personal essays to help determine which applicants are most deserving of the unique opportunity at this state-of-the-art campus. Features include the robotics lab and “smart boards” that show videos and save students’ work to a computer. “The tools I will need for what is going to be my trade are all right here,” said student Kevin Quinonez, who wants to be an engineer.
High School High’s Robotics team took first in the LA Regionals of the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology competition. They qualify for the first robotics championship, to be held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on April 14. Enrollment is up too. The new incoming freshman class, the class of 2010, has 112 students, by far the most populated year. They replace the departed 26 members of the senior class of 2006.
For the record, the school is officially named Lowell Milken Family Foundation High Tech High-Los Angeles. “It’s the most creative and wonderful experience of my life,” Weintraub said.
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