Microsoft's high school in US traveled rocky road
PHILADELPHIA—When the Microsoft-designed School of the Future opened, the facility was a paragon of contemporary architecture, with a green roof, light-filled corridors and the latest classroom technology, all housed in a dazzling white modern building.
Although the U.S. school's creative ambitions have been frustrated by high principal turnover, curriculum tensions and a student body unfamiliar with laptop computer culture, the school graduates its first senior class Tuesday with every graduate headed for an institution of higher learning.
"The first three years were definitely a challenge," said Mary Cullinane, Microsoft's liaison to the school. "They're hitting they're groove now. I'm excited to see what's in store."
From the beginning, everything about the $63 million School of the Future was designed to be different.
Built in Philadelphia's rough Parkside section with district money, the school partnered with Microsoft on new approaches to curriculum, instruction and hiring. It attracted reform-minded teachers and students bent on avoiding older high schools.
The vision was for a paperless, textbook-less school that embodied the motto "Continuous, Relevant, Adaptive." Each learner would get a take-home laptop on which to keep notes, do homework and take tests.
But students are chosen by a lottery of public school students. Most are low-income and without home computers, yet they are expected to manage their
GLOBE EDUCATION NEWS
Catholic University names BC law dean as president
WASHINGTON — John H. Garvey, a Boston College Law School dean with a long record of scholarship on some of the most divisive issues in the Catholic Church, will be named president of the Catholic University of America today. . (By Daniel de Vise, Washington Post)
Cherie Jimenez has turned her life around from drugs, prostitution, and abusive relationships and is helping other women to do it, too.
A lot of people knew Cherie Jimenez in the 1970s. They just didn’t all know about each other. (By Linda Matchan, Globe Staff)
Students at Flag Day celebration reflect on meaning of Stars & Stripes
While political pundits speculate whether the country seems more divided than ever these days, Isabel Basow answers this seemingly complicated question with a simple metaphor. (By Alex Katz, Globe Correspondent)
Salem plans Horace Mann charter high school
Salem is preparing to seek state approval to open its own charter school even as organizers of the Road to Success Charter High School ready a revised plan for a charter school serving Lynn and Salem. (By John Laidler, Globe Correspondent)
Metco students, parents upset by school cutbacks
School officials in Lincoln and Sudbury voted last week to merge two of their three Metco programs, a cost-saving measure that has angered Boston students and parents who say they were excluded from the process and are worried about the future of the program. (By James O’Brien, Globe Correspondent)
LATEST EDUCATION NEWS WIRE UPDATES
- APME president to join Memphis university faculty (AP, 9:19 a.m.)
- Summer school fees possible for NJ students (AP, 8:19 a.m.)
- Microsoft's high school in US traveled rocky road (AP, 6:50 a.m.)
- Microsoft's Philly high school traveled rocky road (AP, 8:35 a.m.)
- APME president to join Memphis university faculty (AP, 6/14/10)
LATEST K-12 EDUCATION NEWS
- Conn. teachers honored with presidential award (AP, 6/13/10)
- One-time flagship Philly Catholic school closing (AP, 6/12/10)
- In bold move, Colorado alters teacher tenure rules (AP, 6/12/10)
- Educator honored for teaching language, confidence(Boston Globe, 6/11/10)
- Harvard student says he faces deportation from US (AP, 6/11/10)
LATEST HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS
- Doctor key to UW abortion plan leaving for Harvard (AP, 6/14/10)
- Student Academy Award winners experience Hollywood (AP, 6/14/10)
- Former UN ambassador at Dartmouth commencement(AP, 6/13/10)
- Along Gulf coast highway, anxiety spreads with oil (AP, 6/13/10)
- Light shed on housing for college presidents (Boston
