II. Daily Schedules and Calendar

High Tech High
Period M Period TWThF
1 8:40-9:55 1 8:40 - 9:45
2 10:00-11:15 2 9:50 - 10:55
3 11:20 - 12:30 3 11:00 - 12:05
Lunch 12:30 - 1:10 X 12:10 - 12:50
Lunch 12:50 - 1:30
4 1:10 - 2:25 4 1:30 - 2:35
5 2:30 - 3:45 5 2:40 - 3:45

HTH International
Period MWF Period TTh
1 8:15-9:15 1 8:15 - 9:15
2 9:20-10:20 2 9:20 - 10:20
3 10:25 - 11:25 3 10:25 - 11:25
Lunch 11:25-12:05 Lunch 11:25 - 12:00
4 12:05 - 1:05 T-SIGS; Th- Advisory* 12:05 - 12:35
5 1:10 - 2:10 4 1:15 - 2:15
X-bock 2:15 - 3:15 5 2:20 - 3:15
*Community meetings happen through advisory every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month

The schedule for High Tech High Media Arts is yet to be determined.
The calendar at HTH schools is similar to San Diego Unified, but we start earlier and end later. We have more vacation and staff days throughout the year. We are tentatively scheduled to begin the 2005-2006 school year on August 29, 2005.

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III. General School Philosophy

What does the “high tech” in High Tech High schools mean?
At HTH schools, “high tech” does not necessarily mean specialization in technology. Some students may specialize in computer programming or related fields, but all students use technology to research, to produce, and to present across disciplines.

Are HTH schools math-science schools?
HTH is an inquiry-based liberal arts school where the lines between “technical” and “academic” are deliberately blurred. While we encourage students with interests in math and science to apply, and while we offer exciting, cutting edge experiences in math and science, similar excitement and quality are to be found in the humanities and the arts. High Tech High schools offer students a high quality broad-based education that will serve them well in all phases of adult life.

What is curriculum integration?
Curriculum at HTH schools is framed around answering questions and solving problems. Integration at HTH means that we address issues as they are found in the real world—in teams, studying questions and themes that cut across academic disciplines. It means that teachers work together to develop coherent curriculum and program. In a well integrated curriculum unit, students experience themselves as pursuing one important question or theme rather than taking six courses.

What are internships and when do students complete them?
Through the Manpower Academic Internships, students work and learn at businesses, schools, nonprofit organizations and professional associations around San Diego County. Internships are unpaid; every student is matched with an individual mentor. Students develop and implement a specific project to contribute to the company or organization. Internships take place for 8-10 hours per week for at least one semester during the junior year.

What is the senior project?
During their senior year, HTH, HTHI, and HTHMA students must complete and pass a senior project in order to graduate. At High Tech High, students choose an area of specialization, such as engineering, art and design, multimedia, etc., and complete a senior project under the guidance of a mentor in that field. The program at HTH International will likely be structured in the same way, but will offer different areas of specialization, such as environmental studies, international design and architecture, religion and philosophy. At HTHMA, students will likely complete senior projects that emphasize the media arts and communication.

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IV. The High Tech High Academic Program

I heard there are college courses at High Tech High schools. What courses are there?
Due to budget cuts at the state level, we are no longer able to offer community college courses on the HTH village. However, students may still take community college courses at the community college in the mornings, evenings, or weekends.

I’d prefer to take college chemistry rather than my 10th grade chemistry course. Can I?
Because we believe in the value of teaching teams and project based learning, we have been very clear that students can do college courses in addition to our program but not in replacement of our program.

I already took physics in middle school, so I don’t want to take HTH math/physics in 9th grade.
While courses taken before attending a HTH school may indeed be valuable, we believe courses taken at other schools are not the equivalent of the HTH experience. All entering 9th grade students must do our 9th grade program.

I already took Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II in middle school, so I don’t want to take HTH math/physics in 9th grade or math/chemistry in 10th grade.
Because we believe in teaching teams, integrated courses, and project based learning, all entering 9th grade students must do our 9th grade program. All 10th grade students must do our 10th grade program.

Can I take math with a teacher on one team and science with a teacher on another team, and then Humanities with a teacher on another team?
Students must take all their classes with the same team. We do not allow students to have one foot on one team and the other foot on the other team, as this disrupts both teams.

How do HTH schools handle honors courses?
At High Tech High, we aim to personalize our offerings to individual students. For two students in the same physics class, one might be building a hovercraft while another is building a sailboat. Our teachers work to challenge and support each student to aim for their personal best. We believe this is a better way to acknowledge differences between students rather than offering “honors” vs. “regular courses.” Nonetheless, we recognize that one reason that students take honors courses is the weighted GPA that comes with this course, which helps during college admissions. Therefore, we allow students to take courses for honors credit for which UC will grant weighted GPA’s, namely junior and senior core classes.

Do HTH schools offer AP courses?
The problem with AP courses is that in order to pass the AP test, students must be rushed through a prescribed, exhaustive, fact-based curriculum that does not lead to an insightful understanding of the big ideas in the discipline. Additionally, many schools tailor their program to prepare students for the AP course, meaning that the entire 9-12 curriculum is set up to prepare students for a poorly designed course during the senior year. For these reasons, AP courses will never be the centerpiece of the HTH curriculum. We choose to emphasize deep project-based work over superficial “content coverage.”

Can a student at one HTH school take classes at another HTH school that they do not attend?
In keeping with the High Tech High philosophy that small, personalized schools make for better high schools, students will not be allowed to attend one high school while taking classes at the other. We do not want the HTH Village to become one monstrously large high school. In order to ensure this, the schools are on different schedules, the faculty are dedicated to one school and students take classes at one high school, exclusively. However, there will be opportunities for social interaction between students from all of the high schools.

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V. Differences in the High Tech High Academic Program

How does art happen at High Tech High?
Students may get art credit by taking two semesters of electives. High Tech High offers art credit in painting and multimedia. Most HTH students take art in their junior year.

What are the Spanish courses at High Tech High?
Students must take up through Spanish 2 at High Tech High. Some students coming out of 8th grade may be placed into Spanish 2 or Spanish 3 upon entering HTH. The University of California system recommends taking a third year of foreign language, and we offer Spanish 3 for students who want that option.

Does High Tech High offer other languages?
As a small school located 20 miles from the international border, HTH offers a full range of language courses only in Spanish. Other languages may be offered at times in the form of clubs or electives; Chinese and Japanese have been offered in the past. Some students who have already completed multiple years of other languages such as Latin or Hebrew may opt to complete their three years of language requirement at other schools, but they must be able to receive two years of UC approved credit for foreign language.

Do I have to take Spanish?
You need to take enough of one foreign language to fulfill the UC foreign language requirement. If you prefer to take sign language at a community college, you may do so, but you need to provide your own transportation, and you will sign up for this on your own (with the help of your advisor). Keep in mind that you will be more competitive for jobs if you are bilingual in Spanish. Hey, everybody in San Diego should learn to speak Spanish!

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VI. Differences in the High Tech High International Academic Program

What does the ‘International’ in HTH International mean?
HTHI is more similar to HTH than different. However, there are some differences. The curriculum at HTHI is designed to provide students with a critical awareness of international issues. Instead of organizing curriculum around the different regions of the world, students learn about international issues that are shared around the globe, such as world trade, energy consumption, human rights, border issues, etc. Students and teachers also have the opportunity to collaborate with other schools from around the world, and we have already begun to develop relationships with high schools in Mexico, Japan, China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, etc. We also encourage families to host exchange students and our own students to study abroad if they are interested in an immersion experience

Should I go to HTH instead of HTH International if I like math and science?
High Tech High is commonly misperceived to be a “techie-science school for nerds”, probably because of the name. New students are often pleasantly surprised when they find that many HTH students also like poetry, film, sports, art, literature, and languages. In short, High Tech High is a liberal arts school in disguise that attracts well-rounded, diverse students with many different interests. HTH International is the same. Students that have a strong interest in science and technology but are also interested in international issues may choose HTHI. Students that have a strong interest in political science and current events but are also interested in engineering and robotics may choose HTH. In other words, both schools will provide students with a strong liberal arts education, covering all core academic areas, in a small, project-based learning environment.

Will HTH International have an art program like HTH in addition to offering World Music?
At High Tech High, the art program is funded by the ROP School to Career program. This program is designed for students that are 16 years or older, so HTH students in the 11th and 12th grade are able to enroll. Next year, we hope to start a similar program at HTH International and are actively looking for qualified art teacher.

What are SIGS (Student Interest Groups) and how are they different than X-block?
At HTH International, students take X-block 3x week. All X-blocks have a fitness focus, such as soccer, dance, rock climbing, cross country, soccer, , tai kwan do, etc. In addition, students take SIGS 1x week. SIGS include student-led clubs, such as yearbook, ASB, Model United Nations and Future Leaders of America, tutoring sessions where students can get extra help in their core classes, and classes where students can develop their passions for art, cooking, chess, etc. The X-block and SIGS offerings depend greatly on the interests of our students and teachers, therefore courses may vary from year to year.

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VII. Differences in the High Tech High Media Arts Academic Program

The academic program at HTH Media Arts is still being developed but will focus on media arts, such as photography, journalism, multi media, web design, etc.

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VIII. Grading and Assessment

How do HTH schools report on student performance?
Students receive report cards at the end of every semester. Although much of the work we do at HTH is non-traditional, we choose to report our assessment of students through traditional looking grades and traditional looking classes. We want colleges to have an easy time understanding our students’ transcripts. Teachers and advisors also write meaningful, personalized comments about each student. We believe these comments capture the progress of a student more meaningfully than a simple letter grade ever could. Parents also have the opportunity to discuss their student’s progress with their teachers during parent teacher conferences, which happen twice a year.

Why isn’t the class rank published on the report card?
Because High Tech High schools are more interested in seeing students achieve at their personal best than ranking students against one another, we do not keep track of class rank. HTH graduates are now attending MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, and other such prestigious schools, so our ranking policy has not been a factor in college admissions.

Are GPA’s published?
High Tech High schools calculate cumulative GPA for college transcripts only. HTH achievement awards are not based on GPA.

What grades count as passing?
To pass a class, students must earn a grade of C- or better.

What happens if a student does not pass a class?
9th and 10th graders must attend summer school to improve the grade or else they must repeat the grade the following year. 11th graders have the opportunity to attend summer school and may make up the failing grade through their senior year as their schedule permits.

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IX. Attendance

Why is attendance so important at HTH?
Students cannot learn from our program if they are not in school. Because much of our work is not textbook driven, attendance is even more important at HTH than at many other schools.

Can students leave school for family trips or special programs?
To be given academic credit for the days a student will miss, families must arrange such trips with the school ahead of time. If the student will miss 3 days of school or more, the student must make up all work through a contract of independent study, or else the student will not receive academic credit for the missed time

Can students leave early at the end of a semester?
Due to the project based and group based nature of our program, which culminates in presentations of learning and/or exhibitions during the last week of each semester, we consider this last week to be critical. We ask families to support our program and their child’s education by not scheduling family vacations or special programs during the last week of the semester.

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X. Student Life

Are there sports teams at HTH?
Yes, we have some sports teams, but they are limited in number and less of a time commitment than at traditional schools. We currently have girls volleyball, boys and girls basketball, rowing, cross country, flag football, fencing, and co-ed soccer. We are limited by our current lack of facilities and hope to offer more sports as Liberty Station expands. We will offer sports that students are interested in, adults are willing to sponsor, and for which facilities can be located. There may be a fee associated with participating on a sports team.

Can I go to another school to play on their team?
No. The San Diego Unified School District decided that HTH students are not allowed to participate on their teams. We would not allow students to leave school early to play on their teams.

Is there P.E. at HTH schools?
We do believe in promoting healthy lifestyles and offer some fitness options during X block. Fitness activities in the past have included kickboxing, yoga, soccor, basketball, rock climbing, cross country, etc. We hope to offer more fitness activities as the base around us is developed into a park. We are currently limited due to the construction occurring on the base.

What is the dress code?
The complete dress code can be found in the student handbook, which can be downloaded at http://www.hightechhigh.org/handbook/
In brief, students are expected to maintain a professional appearance. Boys must wear a collared shirt and girls must wear jewel or v-necked shirts. Girls are not allowed to wear short skirts, show their midriff or wear tank tops with spaghetti straps.

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