"School of the Future" Breaks Ground

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"School of the Future" Breaks Ground

The building is to be embedded with wireless mobile technology not only for
educating students but for such tasks as keeping attendance and ordering
meals and supplies. Officials have said that 30 percent to 40 percent of the
enrollment spots will go to students from the neighborhood.


Governor Rendell, Mayor Street, and other members of the Philadelphia School
District were on hand this Monday to inaugurate construction of the  $50
million Microsoft partnership high school.

Located on 41st Street and Parkside Avenue., the school will serve
approximately 700 ninth through 12th graders in a state-of-the-art building
and will incorporate the latest technologies to support both the academic
program and school operations.

Technology will be infused across the curriculum in every grade and the
curriculum will be 100% online. Newly designed systems will help teachers
establish the pace of instruction and evaluate student progress. On the
operations side, all administrative functions, from keeping attendance to
ordering lunches and school supplies, and from recruiting and training
teachers to processing payroll, will be part of a comprehensive systems
development plan created by Microsoft and the School District. The plan will
result in the design and implementation of new administrative systems, and
the optimal use of current ones.

Nicknamed "The School of the Future", it is expected to open in 2006.

Sources: School District of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Business Journal


Street, Rendell welcome district's technology high school

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/education/10191195.htm?1c


By Susan Snyder

Inquirer Staff Writer

Mayor Street, Gov. Rendell and other dignitaries joined Philadelphia School
District officials yesterday morning at a ceremony to kick off the building
of a $50 million high school in partnership with Microsoft.

Officials from the district and Microsoft say the school - which will serve
750 students and open September 2006 - will become a worldwide prototype for
the best and most cost-effective use of technology in education and school
operations.

"We view this as just another very important step in framing this city as
the city of the future," Street said.

Street supported building the school in Fairmount Park near the Philadelphia
Zoo, and yesterday he said that the school would be designed in a way that
is "sensitive to the surrounding community" and that it would serve students
from the neighborhood.

Standing in what will become the school's front yard, district officials
released an artist's rendering of the building. New details also emerged
about the construction of the school.

The school, at 41st Street and Parkside Avenue, will not just be
technologically advanced, but also on the cutting edge environmentally, said
Mary Cullinane, Microsoft's project manager.

It will have a partially green roof to blend in with the surrounding park
and "photoelectric" windows that use the sun to help heat the building. The
timber from the few trees that must be cut down to make way for it will be
used for carpentry within the building, she said.

Each student will get a laptop or computerized tablet. Digital dashboards,
smart cards, and a home and school broadband connection are among the
services planned.

Classes will be largely mobile; the teacher won't be sitting at a desk, but
moving around the room to teach, she said.

The auditorium or performance center, which typically stands unused in most
schools for large periods of time, will be on hydraulics that allow it to be
converted into classrooms.

It is known as the "School of the Future" for now, but the district plans to
sell naming rights for $5 million, as well as naming rights to individual
classrooms and other spaces.

School district chief Paul Vallas said that if Microsoft decided to
contribute the funds, he would "love" to see its name on the school.

Microsoft is contributing expertise and employee time - including a
full-time on-site coordinator - but is not providing cash. The software
giant's role is to help design the school, oversee its development, and
connect the district with experts at universities and in other countries.

Contact staff writer Susan Snyder at 215-854-4693 or ssnyder@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



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