Press Releases

June 29, 2005
New Technology Foundation All School Summer Institute 2005

Napa, CA – More than one-hundred educators and staff from as far away as Alaska gathered at Embassy Suites in Napa Monday, June 27th, 2005 to participate in New Technology Foundation’s four day All Schools Institute.

“All Schools Institute is for all existing schools in the network (11 in total) and their staff -- new hires as well as existing staff. We invited support staff (counselors, front office, etc) as well as the Directors”, said Susan Schilling CEO of New Technology Foundation. “Schools who are starting up this next school year (3 more) are trained on site so their staff becomes familiar with the technology in their school setting. When asked how she thought the institute benefited the participants Schilling went on to say “Once a school decides to become a replication of Napa NTHS, they leave all their traditional support structures behind. The NTHS model demands that all staff, teachers and principals think differently and behave differently. Instruction and assessment are done differently. The culture that is established where students are expected to own their own learning, to treat each other with respect and to behave in responsible and accountable ways means adults and students need to form new ways of being in relationship to each other. The benefit of having all the staff from all the existing schools in one place is that they get to see that they are not alone. They get to share best practices in person and establish relationships with each other that can be tapped into as the school year unfolds. They share projects and authentic assessment tools with each other as well as classroom management tips, and ideas for how to make projects work better for all kids. They discuss how they can make their experiences of value to others in the network.”

New Technology Foundation has experienced an increased interest as communities across the country strive to bring their educational standards into the 21st century. The All School Institute is designed to keep NTF network of schools moving forward. “We expect to continue to develop a network of professionals who are on the forefront of establishing a new way to 'do' high school,” Schilling says, “of using project based learning as the predominant method of instruction, and technology to support the classroom management of that approach. Individual schools are encouraged to use this time for team building, so that new and existing staff are well integrated and all oriented to a common vision and mission. Time is set aside during the week for the schools to continue their planning processes and to reflect on their prior year’s experience. This type of school requires not only students to think and act differently, but staff and faculty as well. Learning from each other is part of how this transformation occurs.”

The Institute, which runs through Thursday afternoon, opened on Monday morning with a panel discussion of seven current and alumni students from Napa New Technology High School including Stephanie Chu, John Cooney, Chris Raschko, Allison Tuthill, Christina Lee, Vincent Lagorio and Paul Butts. When recent graduate Paul Butts was asked by a member of the audience if he was running away from, or running to something when he made a discussion to leave his previous high school, Paul answered “At the time I thought I was running away from something, but it wasn’t until after I got to New Tech High that I realized that I was running to something and I’m grateful for the opportunity”

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New Technology Foundation, www.newtechfoundation.org, supports the creation of new small high schools based on the Napa New Technology High School Model, thereby offering a concrete model for how national education reform can be accomplished. NTF is creating an NTHS Network across the country with schools in California, Oregon, Alaska, Colorado, Illinois and Louisiana, with additional schools opening in North Carolina, Texas and New York over the next two years.. For more information, visit the website, or phone (707) 253-6951.

Contact:
Susan Lane, Director of Development | (707) 259-8524
Susan Schilling, CEO | (707) 253-4287