Down in San Diego, we learned this week that the popular charter school High Tech High was closing one of its schools in the bay area, High Tech High Bayshore. The school said that they were unable to meet enrollment goals and were going to sell the building they had. I didn’t realize how big this would be, now Scoble is posting about it because one of his friends has a student enrolled.
He brings up some interesting points about giving notice to the parents. Surely the parents could’ve done something to keep the school open. I have also heard though the HTH Bayshore is in a bad neighborhood and this may have contributed to the decision.
Technorati Tags: hightechhigh, scoble
6 Comments
Hi Chris,
I saw that you posted about HTH Bayshore. Please keep up on all the posts on Scoble. I am a concerned parent that wants to keep the school open. We do have a large number of Latino students and we are in a industrial neighborhood, but should those be reasons to close the school? Many students from bayshore are blogging at scoble about their school and how much they love it. Please support us and spread the word about our plight. HTH San Diego may not be able to fund us, but they could keep our five year charter with the state and give us governance which we could even pay for. Right now they have voted the school closed and even though they hold the charter they want to kill it, which means we would die. We are trying like mad to raise money and awareness of the school. Please help be our voice and ask Larry Rosenstock and Jed Wallace to keep our charter and school open!!
Leslie
Chris,
Thanks for bringing our story to your community via this blog. Like Leslie, I too am a HTHB parent. Your comment that the school is in a “bad neighborhood” is a bit deceiving. Though it is an industrial area, the HTHB campus in on the fringe of downtown Redwood City (it is FAR from ghetto).
The issue is less about the neighborhood than it is about money and enrollment. This school, as you may know from other posts on Scoble, has only been operating under the High Tech High banner for 18-months. As a community of dedicated and concerned parents and students, we believe with a little bit of time and support from HTH we can keep our school alive.
Spreading the word, as you have begun to do, will indeed increase our exposure, and hopefully as a larger community of people who support this educational model we can make a difference and turn this very unhappy situation into one of survival.
Thanks,
Kim
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!
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
I am a parent of a freshman student. This past school year has been a year of tremendous growth for my son. High Tech High Bayshore has helped him grow in more ways than just academics. My son has developed strong leadership skills, good self esteem, great work ethics and a love for learning.
The teachers at HTHB are outstanding! They are always encouraging and they bring out the best in all of the students. I know project based teaching is very time consuming to plan and to teach. Project based learning is what makes HTHB so unique. Project based learning is what makes learning fun and, when learning is fun, students will learn more.
HTHB is a school that everybody in our community should want to save. We need to save HTHB not just for the current enrolled students but for all future kids. After all, aren’t the kids our future?
The parents are working countless hours trying to save HTHB. If you are interested in helping save HTHB please consider donating funds to: Peninsula Parents Education Foundation,
P.O. Box 1154,
Menlo Park, CALIFORNIA 94025
If you know anybody who would like to attend HTHB please notify them that there is still hope and to not give up.
On Valentine’s Day 2007, HTH broke our kids’ hearts. They broke them and then sent the kids home to fall apart and left the parents to pick up the pieces.
Ever since then our kids’ (and our) dreams and spirits have been slowly dying.
Fear is now setting in with these poor kids. They are all worried about losing their school, friends, teachers, and the project based educational model that works so well for them. They are also worried about where they will go to school next year, how they will fit in, how they will make new friends, how they will like their new teachers, how they will succeed using a more traditional learning model - the list goes on and on. This is about KIDS - kids that are currently enrolled at HTHB and all kids that hope to attend HTHB.
HTHB families have been working hard on preserving this exceptional educational model. Please join our crusade and work with us to preserve High Tech High Bayshore for ALL of our KIDS.