5/30/08

Plain Dealer

Thomas Ott

The Cleveland school district has less than three months to finish planning two new cutting-edge high schools focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Before the schools open in August, officials have to hire the teachers and recruit more students. In one case, they have yet to complete negotiations for a building.

No problem, says Jan Morrison, a consultant working on the so-called STEM schools.

“We might all have a little less sleep,” said Morrison, head of the Baltimore-based Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM. “But that’s us. It’s not about us. It’s about the children.”

The Ohio legislature, seeking to join a national movement, last year set aside $200 million for STEM education. Cleveland, the first district to receive money, was given $600,000. Other schools will open next year in Akron, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton.

Cleveland’s MC STEM High School and Design Lab Early College each will begin with 100 ninth-graders. The district, hoping to become a regional leader in education, plans to reserve a fourth of the seats for children from the suburbs, starting with inner-ring communities.

Suburban students, whose state aid will transfer with them, have until June 10 to apply. Students can apply online at mc2stemhub.org.

More than 50 businesses, universities, agencies and other groups are helping to develop the schools.

Both schools will help prepare graduates for the modern labor force, Morrison said. MC will focus on power, energy and sustainability; Design Lab on industrial product design.

Approach will be as important as content. Teachers will connect science, technology, engineering and math in different classes. Students will combine the subject areas in projects and apply them in internships.

While still in high school, teenagers will take classes for credit at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College and the Cleveland Institute of Art. Faculty from those institutions also will help plan courses and teach at the high schools.

MC STEM and Design Lab will operate year-round, alternating 10 weeks of study with three weeks off. Teachers will spend part of their breaks in training, while students will participate in academic projects and competitions. The schedule more closely resembles what students will face at work, said Eric Gordon, the Cleveland schools’ chief academic officer.

Design Lab will occupy part of the district’s Jane Addams Business Career Center, across from Tri-C’s downtown campus. School officials believe they are close to locating MC’s ninth grade at GE’s Nela Park campus in East Cleveland.

Holding classes on a corporate campus will surround students with mentors and let them observe jobs they may someday land. Plans call for sending MC’s 10th-graders to a similar setting.

MC’s head of school, Jeff McClellan, currently leads the Lima High School of Multiple Intelligences. The school, one of the “small schools” set up nationwide with money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, concentrates on developing students’ personal strengths.

McClellan wasn’t seeking a new job, but when a headhunter called, he couldn’t resist.

“I just realized what an opportunity this was for me, professionally, and students,” said McClellan, 33. “The 21st century needs people who are equipped to solve complex problems.”