Clarksville schools hear New Tech pitch

Clark County

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August 24, 2012

Clarksville schools hear New Tech pitch

Success stories from Scottsburg site shared

By MATT KOESTERS matt.koesters@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Fri Aug 24, 2012, 07:04 AM EDT

CLARKSVILLE — There was a time, not too long ago, when Jake Vannarsdall pictured himself spending 14 hours a day driving a freightliner after he graduated high school.

He wasn’t a particularly engaged student in middle school, and his faith in finding work as an adult was as shaky as his grades.

Today, Vannarsdall, a junior at Scottsburg New Tech High School in Scottsburg, pictures himself pursuing a degree in business or possibly a career in the Air Force. He attributes his success to the New Tech model.

“I don’t see myself anywhere near a truck,” Vannarsdall said. “Since I came to New Tech, I’ve realized that I can reach my potential, especially with those college classes and things like that. I’ve wanted to do something more technical, something more fulfilling.”

Vannarsdall was one of seven Scottsburg New Tech students, along with parents, teachers and administrators of the school, who visited with the Clarksville Community School Corp. board at a meeting Tuesday to talk about the benefits of the New Tech model.

The school corporation is examining the possibility of opening a New Tech school at the former Value City property along Eastern Boulevard, recently purchased by the Clarksville Redevelopment Commission. The New Tech model is a problem-based and project-based learning model that focuses on student engagement. The students’ input is taken into account in everything from the projects they work on to the rules they follow in the classroom.

“I hope the audience gleaned how important that culture is to project-based learning, and how it truly is driven from the ground up by the students, because that was clear when I was listening to the students talk, and that was a repeated theme with other New Tech models,” Clarksville Superintendent Kim Knott said. “That culture is one of the most powerful tools I have ever seen in education.”

The New Tech Network, a subsidiary of the KnowledgeWorks Foundation, provides the model for more than 85 schools throughout the United States and Australia. Of those, 24 schools had graduating classes. The state of Indiana is the home of 23 New Tech schools, the most of any state.

According to statistics provided by the New Tech Network in an April report, New Tech schools boast a 97 percent graduation rate and a 98-percent college-acceptance rate. In 2009, the college-persistence rate of New Tech graduates was 91 percent.

Although members of the school board seem to be warm to the idea of bringing New Tech to Clarksville, there are still issues that need to be considered and resolved before the new model can be implemented.

“I have no doubt about the New Tech. It’s a great program. It’s a great school,” Clarksville board Vice President James Bemiss said. “But I have concerns that if we pull X number of kids out of our traditional population, are we going to have enough student population left in our traditional to offer all of the classes that we now offer and are able to offer.

“And I think maybe we can do that. But I do have a concern.”

Knott pointed to Scottsburg as a good model for how New Tech can work in Clarksville.

“That’s why Scottsburg was such a great school to bring down — similar in size, similar in demographics, similar in financial and fiscal resources,” she said.

Bemiss also pointed out that Clarksville has a declining enrollment, and that might be another barrier to moving to the New Tech model. According to Scottsburg High School Principal Deb Yost, Scottsburg corporation’s enrollment has increased from 830 to 900 since the New Tech school opened in 2010.

Knott said she wants to have another presentation for members of the Clarksville staff, and added that there is a lot of work to be done before a decision is made on the possibility of a New Tech school in Clarksville.

“We want to continue to work with the town and the [Clarksville Redevelopment Commission] on ways that we might partner to make the Eastern Boulevard property a reality,” Knott said. “We are going to need to complete a feasibility study for our corporation, look at enrollment trends and what that impact might be.”