High Tech High
Regarded as the model school for project based-learning and equity, High Tech High opened in San Diego, California in 2000 as a small public charter school. Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the founding years, students are admitted through a zip-code lottery system to ensure a diverse student body. Operating mostly textbook-free, the school looks like a huge workshop with student projects displayed across hallways, walls and ceilings.
Today, the High tech High has grown into a network of sixteen charter schools all following the same core principles of putting equity, collaborative design as well as personalized and authentic learning first. High Tech High is more than a school, it is also an adult learning centre, runs conferences and trains teachers.
Schools around the world have been inspired by High Tech High’s design and its approach to learning, developing 21st century competencies like collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving or effective communication.
