Seaford High School Strives To Reinvent Itself

Lately, there’s been a lot of buzz around college and career readiness which means that the focus has shifted from merely improving high school graduation rate to ensuring that students are prepared for college or a career upon matriculation. This can be achieved only when students are taught to develop their analytical and critical thinking skills, which is being targeted through unconventional methods of imparting education. Delaware’s Seaford School District is engaged in one such effort.

Seaford School District is reinventing SeafordSeniorHigh School through a nationally recognized, research-based program focused on providing meaningful standards based instruction in a more collaborative, technology-rich environment: The New Technology High School. This initiative will involve the establishment of “schools-within-schools” and increased student use of technology. Students enrolled in the New Technology High School will use the internet and other software applications to solve authentic and academically rich problems through project based curriculum facilitated by their teachers.

After months of research and travel around the country to see the New Tech model in action, the District is preparing to launch this model in fall 2011 and is seeking ideas from the school’s staff, parents, and other Seaford/Blades community members to bring their vision to reality.

This reinvention is a great example of a “school turnaround” or school improvement strategy that engages the community and brings in teachers that are committed to the model. Restart–one of the federal School Improvement funding options–seems to have been overlooked as the focus turns to Turnaround and Transformation, even though national experts believe it could be one of the strongest strategies to change conditions in low-performing schools.