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FOR RELEASE
January 25, 1999
Contact: Melinda Ulloa (202) 205-8811
The U.S. Department of Educations Office of Vocational Education has awarded a $1.5 million grant to the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in Atlanta for an 18-month effort to transform 25 high schools.
SREB will build on work that began in 1996 to create New American High Schools that fully prepare students to meet the challenges of a changing technological and global economy. These schools expose students to information about careers while adhering to challenging academic standards. They help students acquire the communications, problem-solving, computer and technical skills necessary to pursue college or other opportunities. The schools develop partnerships with the community, parents and postsecondary institutions and are expected to demonstrate sustained student academic performance.
Schools participating in this initiative have committed to monitor their academic activities in order to better gauge their improvement in a number of areas. These include raising student achievement by focusing on specifics such as curriculum, teaching methods, after-school help, accountability, and effective relationships with middle schools and postsecondary institutions.
The following schools have been selected to participate:
Alabama
Butler High School, Huntsville
Arkansas
Springdale High School, Springdale
Delaware
Hodgson Technical High School, Newark
Florida
Ft. Pierce Westwood High School, Ft. Pierce
Sebastian River High School, Sebastian
Georgia
Buford High School, Buford
Douglas County High School, Douglasville
Mays High School, Atlanta
Indiana
Owen Valley High School, Spencer
Kansas
Turner High School, Kansas City
Kentucky
North Laurel High School, London
Louisiana
North DeSoto High School, Stonewall
Maryland
Queen Anne's County High School, Centreville
North Carolina
Wallace Rose Hill High School, Teachey
Western Guilford High School, Greensboro
Oklahoma
Durant High School, Durant
Pennsylvania
Edward Bok Technical High School, Philadelphia
South Carolina
Academy of Arts, Science and Technology, Myrtle Beach
Tennessee
Glencliff High School, Nashville
East High School, Memphis
Page High School, Frankli
Texas
Los Fresnos High School, Los Fresnos
Virginia
Bethel High School, Hampton
West Virginia
Hampshire High School, Romney
Summers High School, Hinton
Each school will develop a goal-oriented, three-year action plan in conjunction with SREB staff. A summer institute for school staff will provide additional support.
Gail Schwartz, director of the department's New American High Schools office said, "New American High Schools have proven themselves with high graduation rates, very few dropouts, and enviable college enrollment rates."
The following 16 schools are currently New American High Schools:
California
Coronado High School, Coronado
Encina High School, Sacramento
Colorado
Thompson School District, Loveland
Delaware
Sussex Technical High School, Georgetown
Florida
William H. Turner Technical High School, Miami
Illinois
Adlai Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire
Massachusetts
Fenway Middle College High School, Boston
Missouri
Gateway Institute of Technology, St. Louis
New Jersey
Marine Academy of Science and Technology, Sandy Hook
New York
High School of Economic and Finance
Saunders Trades and Technical High School, Yonkers
Ohio
Greene JROTC Academy, Dayton
Oregon
David Douglas High School, Portland
Texas
Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions, Houston
Newman Smith High School, Carrollton