Academics

Many bright students with learning variations manage to struggle through elementary and middle school, but hit the wall when they encounter the increased academic demands of high school. Parents from the Central Coast have long asked for a high school like TNHSP, since there is no other school in the region to meet the needs of struggling teens. The need is heightened by research showing that, without intervention, about a third of teens with learning difficulties will fail to complete high school. Too many of these young people will find it very hard to qualify for employment and will face troubles with the law, substance abuse, and/or too-early parenting. But with well designed, diagnostic instruction, more than 90% of teens with learning variations can graduate from high school, and their likelihood of continuing to college can be the same as the general population. At The New High School Project, it can be even higher.

The past two decades have seen a variety of different approaches to high school education. We have reviewed the literature and consulted with other educators to find out what works. Medical research on teen development, including teen sleep/wake cycles, has also informed our thinking. We have found convincing evidence of the value of incorporating:

• Later daily start times,
• Physical fitness activities at the start of each day,
• Project-based, experiential learning,
• Small classes with collaborative teaching teams,
• Intelligent use of computers and multiple technologies throughout the curriculum,
• The arts as an essential component of language development and learning, and
• Longer class periods offering in-depth subject focus.

These appear to have high success rates and are especially beneficial for the students The New High School Project serves.

The educational approaches discussed above, along with the diagnostic instruction and best practices developed over the past 25 years form an innovative, green high school designed to unwrap its students’ potential. The New High School Project allows students to strengthen and further develop basic academic skills, master content they may have missed, and feel the excitement of greater knowledge and understanding of topics that matter to them. They grow to value research and critical thinking, learn about their own strengths and the ways they learn best, and know how to persevere to achieve their goals.

"The learning style that I am strongest in is Abstract Sequential. This means that I learn and work in a very sequential way. One down side is that it is hard for me do things out of order. But one strength is that I am good at organizing. The second best way I learn is Concrete Sequential. This means that I am good at recalling facts and remebering details." -- TNHSP student