Graduation marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next in everyone’s life. In 2006, the Microsoft High School of the Future located on 40th Street and Parkside Avenue opened its doors with the hopes of molding young Philadelphians into technologically savvy young adults prepared to take on the world.
Today, four years into the future, the High School of the Future held its first graduation ceremony with 100 percent post-secondary education acceptance rate.
“It feels wonderful,” Sekou Thomas, 18, exclaimed, a graduate of the High School of the Future’s 2010 class. “No more high school. I’m going on to a better education.”
The Microsoft School of the Future, developed as a product of the School District of Philadelphia partnership with Microsoft to build a 750-student high school as a model for 21st-century learning communities around the world, was flooded with smiles and shrieks of joy among the first senior class to receive high school diplomas as parents captured picture after picture and bragged about the students’ achievements.
Jaleel McCrae, 18, will be attending Penn State University for accounting in the fall. He appreciates the skills he learned in technology and general communications at the High School of the Future.
“We had more use of technology,” McCray, 18, said. “We became proficient in using Word, Excel, Publisher and all of Microsoft Office.
Microsoft’s partnership with the School District of Philadelphia started in 2003 when the chief executive officer and members of the school district presented the idea to Microsoft as a way to prepare students for success in the digital world and global economy. Anthony Franklin, solutions specialist and liaison for Microsoft at the High School of the Future, found his experience truly fulfilling since he started his day-to-day work at the high school.
“I’ve been here for three years now so I’ve seen a lot of them [students] grow up here,” Franklin, 37, reflected. “I really didn’t think I’d have those personal connections you know I was thinking it’s just a job and you know I’d come in on a daily basis and do technology, but it turned into so much more. To me, that’s been really fulfilling personally and professionally. I really feel like I have a reason for coming to work and I have a reason for doing what I do.”
Franklin felt that his work at the school touched the students in ways that will prepare them for their own futures. In his eyes, the partnership between Microsoft and the school district was successful.
“I believe in what we’re doing,” Franklin stated. “I really believe that as many kids that I can affect and touch and talk to and help, those kids will at least have the opportunity to have someone in their life that really cares about where they’re going.”
The High School of the Future was pegged as a technologically advanced institution putting it above and beyond other public schools in Philadelphia. For Franklin, the school’s main advantage to other public schools is simply the approach taken by the educators.
“My opinion of what makes this school the ‘School of the Future’ is the forward thinking that the educators have in terms of how do they want to teach these kids in West Philadelphia,” Franklin suggested. “They keep in mind what skills they’ll need in the future in order to get that done.”
With 117 graduating seniors this year the school achieved a 96 percent graduation rate for its first class. Compared to other public schools in Philadelphia, the School of the Future sits at the top with Masterman High School and excels past neighboring Overbook High School.
According to the school district’s Office of Accountability annual report, the school set a 60 percent target for on-track-to-graduation rate and soared well past that rate with 96 percent as mentioned by the principal. Masterman had a 100 percent target for 2010 after meeting an actual 100 percent in 2009. Regarding proficiency, Masterman remained well over 95 percent math and reading proficiencies since 2008 while the High School of the Future seemed to struggle in these areas with its 2009 targets. 2010 marked a year of turnaround for the school.
Overbrook’s 2010 on-track-to-graduation target rate was 72.9 percent, up just 3.1 percent from its 2009 actual of 69.8 percent rate. Still well over 50 percent on track, Overbrook High School has 1219 students enrolled while the High School of the Future had less than 600 students currently enrolled. Students and faculty alike felt the smaller class size contributed to the experience and benefits of attending the High School of the Future.
Principal Rosalind Chivis, Chief Learner explained the benefits of the High School of the Future compared to other public schools in Philadelphia.
“The most valuable thing for me in my mind is tons of caring adults,” Principal Chivis explained. “I’m talking about from the custodial crew on up to myself. I am convinced that children will make up their minds rapidly that they will learn from you or they won’t learn from you and I think the deciding factor is the ability of the adult to communicate to that child that they genuinely care about them. That’s not something you can fake.”
Also contributing to the unique experience of attending the High School of the Future is the dedication of the educators to their students in the classroom and outside of the classroom.
“We have tons of educators that are able to connect to learners in a caring manner,” Chivis, 56, explained. “These educators don’t think twice about going to the learners’ homes, they don’t think twice about calling them in the morning to make sure they’re up and ready for school, and they don’t think twice about picking them up and getting them here on time when they’re demonstrating that they’re not able to do that in a consistent manner.”
The High School of the Future has by no means reached its full potential yet. The building was intended for 750 students, but Principal Chivis would rather not fill that capacity because of the advantages to learning in smaller classroom settings. Students discussed the personal and familial style of learning they received through smaller classes throughout their high school careers.
“The connection we had between each other is what makes it different between us and other public schools,” said Kiana Bangura, a graduate of the High School of the Future. “We’ve become a family here and we know each other personally. The teachers are always interactive and that’s what makes it different.”
Tanisha Binckney, also a graduate, shared similar valuable experiences at the High School of the Future.
“The most valuable thing I’m taking with me would be the connection with my friends,” Binckney, 18, said. “I’ve made friends with different types of people. It’s like a family and we’re just naturally connected. The teachers here care more to me.”
There was a common emotion amid the crowd of students, parents, friends and school faculty: Pride. The students were proud of themselves and eager to start the next chapter of their lives and the parents were simply proud to see their children cross the stage. As for the staff, the pride resided in the vision of the hard work and efforts—that four years ago could not be clearly seen—in the students whose lives have been touched.
As the students saluted the High School of the Future, the reality set in. From this moment on would mark the beginning their futures.
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