I went into the High Tech High experience as both a classroom and special education teacher. As we walked into our initial meet-and-greet I was amazed, not just by the students but by the openness of the buildings. Windows everywhere with a very open floorplan. What I didn’t realize when watching the initial video was that 1) there are multiple schools within the High Tech High umbrella. The HTH school which was on the video, HTH International, and HTH Media Arts. There are also two HTH middle schools: Middle and Middle Media Arts as well as the on-campus elementary schools (Elementary and Elementary Explorer). HTH also operates campuses in Chula Vista and North County in San Marcos. We were initially guided through HTH International – which was founded on the basis of international travel – by one of the current students.

The students are ambassadors for the school, and our guide was able to answer almost all of our questions. The students start in 9th grade with the same cohort of kids, usually around 120 or so, and if students have to leave the cohort for whatever reason, they are not replaced. This makes the classes very cohesive because they are with each other all through their course of study. Each grade level has their own wing, floor, or area – all 9th grade teachers are in one section with English, Math, Science, and Humanities sharing space and having a common area outside the rooms. The walls between the classrooms can move so teachers can flow between classrooms and space can be shared – which is great for cohesive co-teaching! Students were scattered throughout the hallways and common areas working on projects, and were happy to answer our questions as we came through. Teachers were also happy to answer any questions we had. Student work was displayed EVERYWHERE, which shows tremendous pride in the building and their studies. Students on IEPs were serviced directly within the classroom and the SPED teachers would rotate through their grade levels and acted as “another trusted adult” in the room for all students to ask questions, receive help, or extra support to get their needs met.

We were able to have lunch with several teachers and ask how they structured lessons, worked on co-teaching and planning, and even their experiences with teachers. One thing that shocked some teachers, but was more commonplace to me, was that the students called every staff member, even down to the director, by their first name. HTH teachers felt that it worked better for relationship building. Much like our Bulldog time, all of the staff at HTH (including administrators) have 15-20 students in their advisement periods that they stay with for all four years of the program. The reason for this is that the staff are able to build long-lasting relationships with the students, are able to help them with letters of recommendation, scholarship info, and just be that one steady adult through their whole high school career.

After lunch, and for the rest of our day at HTH, we were able to freely tour any of the schools on campus to ask questions, watch teachers in action, and take it all in. Teachers were very free and open with answering all of our questions, students were active in their learning and didn’t even register we were there!

Next article

Return to September issue

Previous issues of KIBBLE