Ann Arbor Tech High School At A Glance

“Closing the college attainment gap between young people from the bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum and their middle- and upper-income peers will require targeted action to stem the loss of students all along the educational pipeline.”  Minding the Gap, Hoffman, et.al. 2007, p.32.

The crucial conversation we have every day at A2T is how we can identify struggling learners early and provide the support and remediation necessary to get them back on track. The greatest power we have as educators is the power to determine the conversation! We are truly utilizing technology as an essential way to deliver curriculum and for the most part, it is working quite well. Ann Arbor Tech High School is striving to support college readiness for our turnaround student population. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Aggregate Report released in the spring of 2011, our student population showed a low of just 19% of students enrolling in a post-high school college experience in 2007, compared to 47% in 2010. In addition, the rate of students enrolled in college the first year after high school that returned for a second year (freshman to sophomore retention), increased from 29% in 2007 to 67% in 2009. In fact, 12 % of our students attending college opted to enroll with the University of Phoenix – an online college. Again, our students are clearly supporting a non-tradition route to access their education.

A2T Demographics

• Total population 157 for 1^st quarter including 15 under 20-GED students, enrollment increases throughout the school year
• Instructional Staff – 10, +4 Spec. Ed.
• Staffing Reduction since 2007, 33% due to budget cuts
• Teen Parents 8%
• Special Education 37%
• Has Court Probation Officer 11%
• Poverty (Free & Reduced) 56%  (Based on 117 Gen. Ed students – GED under-20 not included)

This increase in college enrollment by the Ann Arbor Tech students can be directly contributed to a targeted effort to bring the culture of college into the lives of our students by the faculty and the addition of a .2 FTE Graduation Coach on staff. This position was culled from existing FTE costing the District nothing additional. The Grad Coach:

• Acts as a liaison and transition coordinator for the local colleges
• Brings scholarship opportunities to the students, 
  
• Tracks the student’s classroom progress stressing the need for college-level work readiness,
  
• Is a co-liaison for our Rotary Strive Scholarship program,
• Meets with students and their families continually to help with family financial aid forms, 
  
• Supports students in the writing of their college entrance essays, 
  
• Arranges college visits for College Tuesdays – lunch hour college visits and speakers,
  
• Seeks opportunities where students can collaborate with college students as mentors,
  
• Helps to build internal confidence amongst potential college-bound students.

We have re-imaged our school from the old “behavior containment” model that was in place for almost 2 decades, to a transition/turnaround model in 2008 which respects and confirms our student’s academic abilities and recognizes that “life” or school anxiety may have gotten in the way of their school success. Our principals from the comprehensive high schools in Ann Arbor are supporting and honoring our reframed admission criteria by sending us great kids who are getting lost in the larger high school setting due to a variety of issues. Students with behavior issues, but otherwise solid skill sets are kept at the larger high schools, allowing the atmosphere of our alternative program to focus on learning and not behavior containment. Our school’s motto is “Credentials Matter!!” The motto is reinforced in our student assemblies, T-shirts, and student planners. Thus, our vision and practice of keeping the bar high for both academics and behavior is paying off for our at-risk, struggling students.