Technology High School is a magnet school for science, math and technology located in Sonoma County, California. It was initiated in 1995 by the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District, Sonoma State University, Hewlett Packard and the Autodesk foundation. The school opened its doors in 1999.
History
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Technology High School as a program
Initially the school was a program of Rancho Cotate High School. The students involved split their time between the two schools. Technology High School's program included Integrated Science, Engineering and Math curriculum as required courses and the students took the remainder of their classes from Rancho Cotate High School. This environment created a school focused heavily on the math and sciences with the larger high school environment providing everything else expected from a traditional high school.
Technology High School as a school
In 2002, Tech High became a separate and independent school, starting with the class of 2006. The former "program students" continued to be part-time students and split their time, while all new students came in as full-time. This called for new, undeveloped humanities, physical education, foreign language, and elective programs to be created and implemented. These have since become more developed.
Relations with the District
Relations with the school district became strained when during the planning of the 2004-2005 district budget a proposal was put forth to relocate Technology High School. This caused a strong backlash of support from the community around Technology High School. Students, parents and staff felt that this would severely compromise the integrity of the program. Students and parents pulled together in an attempt to halt this measure. In a special session in January 2004 the school board voted 5â€"0 to keep the school in its facilities on the Sonoma State University campus.
Relations with the school district have improved considerably, partly due to Technology High School being announced as a Distinguished School in April 2005 as part of California's Distinguished School Program. Relations have also been improved due Technology High School's high testing scores. The district has now publicly stated that they feel that the proposal to relocate Technology High School was a mistake.
Recent history
- In 2005, Technology High School began its first year of an extended waiting list. A random selection process was used to follow California's fair and equitable education guidelines. The 2005â€"2006 school year will also be the first year that Technology High School will house 4 years of full-time students. Its first full-time class graduated in June 2006.
- Technology High School was officially declared a California Distinguished High School, due in part to the quality of the students' work, the high grade average, and the outstanding STAR testing score, which was indexed at 823 API.
- Dr. Kay Dorner announced her resignation in April 2007 to accept a principalship in Southern Oregon.
- On May 8, 2007, the Board of Trustees of the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District appointed Mr. Anthony Harris as the new principal at Technology High School. Mr. Harris' appointment became effective July 1, 2007.
- Dr. Bruce Mims became the principal in 2011, he was recruited by the superintendent of the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. He resigned in October 2013 amidst a controversy and revelation of his falsely portraying himself to have been a Navy SEAL for decades. Coincidentally during his tenure enrollment grew approximately 33% and the school's state Academic Performance Index Score rose to 920 â€" the highest in Sonoma County, however the APIS had been steadily rising prior to his arrival. APIS is most readily attributed to the quality of teaching faculty.
- As of the 2016-2017 School year, Technology High acquired a new principal, Ms Dawn Mawhinney.
Campus
Location
Technology High School occupies the first floor of the Ruben Salazar Building on the Sonoma State University campus in Rohnert Park, California. The Salazar Building is near the center of campus, right off the quad. This location offers access to Rancho Cotate High School which allows Technology High School students to participate in its PE classes.
Use of University facilities
Technology High School uses the Sonoma State library. Technology High School students patronize the University's dining facilities and bookstores; Technology High School has no dining facilities of its own. Technology High School students can take up to 6 credits worth of classes at Sonoma State University in addition to their curriculum at Technology High School. The on-campus location is intended to increase the students' comfort with university settings. In terms of athletics, Sonoma State University does not allow Technology High School to utilize their athletic facilities. However, the original agreement, signed in 1999, states that Sonoma State University and Technology High School were to share athletic facilities.
Student body
Genders
(For the 2015â€"2016 school year)
Ethnicities
(For the 2015â€"2016 school year)
Other data
There are 1.3 students per computer, compared to the California statewide average of 5 students per computer. Many students go on to a higher educational institution while less than 20% go directly into the workforce.
Faculty
There is an average of 27 students per teacher. Full credentials are possessed by 83% of teachers, while the remaining teachers have emergency credentials or waivers. Faculty retention has been an issue over the school's history. Retention rates were below 50% during the first several years of operation but current retention rates hover around 75%.
Due to the small-school environment that Technology High School maintains there are at most 3 teachers in one department. This encourages teachers to work together on cross-curricular projects. Staff meetings happen at least once a week where the entire staff of the school gathers together to discuss any outstanding school wide issues. Another purpose of these meetings is to attempt to ensure consistency through the entire school.
Curriculum
Technology High School's curriculum is designed to be project-based as well as cross-curricular. Teachers work closely together to create projects that span more than one curricular area. Teachers also try to time the curriculum so that students can take advantage of what they learn in one class in another. The curriculum is also designed and graded based on the Schoolwide Learning Outcomes.
Awards
Tech High was named a California Distinguished School in 2005, 2009, and again in 2013.
References
External links
- Official website
- CRPUSD webpage for Technology High School
- 2001 summary from the National School Boards Association
- Profile from GreatSchools.org
