During a summer orientation at Hawaii's Nānākuli High School the freshmen class excitedly opened the boxes of their new laptop computers. They were about to start their high school career with support from the New Tech Network (NTN), an organization that works with low-performing schools around the U.S. to transform teaching and learning into a powerful, student-centered process. Nānākuli High and Intermediate School and Wai'anae High School will be the first two Hawaiian "New Tech High Schools."

The New Tech curriculum emphasizes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers and is based on a model in which teachers work as facilitators who guide rather than instruct students. The program costs the schools $450,000 for four years of support, professional development and guidance from the New Tech Network, which is a subsidiary of the KnowledgeWorks Foundation.

The high school teachers who will be part of this initiative had special professional development that included visiting schools on the mainland where the New Tech Network has implemented the same model. The U.S. Department of Education has designated the schools as Zoned for School Innovation which gives administrators more leeway to try new methods to raise test scores, decrease drop out rates, and improve attendance.

"We are excited to have Nānākuli High and Intermediate and Wai'anae High Schools join the New Tech Network which includes 62 schools nationwide, making New Tech Network one of the largest networks of innovative schools in the country," said Monica Martinez, President of New Tech Network, who added: "In 2009, New Tech schools displayed higher rates of attendance and lower drop out and suspension rates. It's encouraging to report that eighty-five percent of seniors applied to one or more colleges and among them, ninety-eight percent were accepted to at least one post-secondary institution."

Source: Sovereign Councils of the Hawaiian Homelands Assembly, Nanakuli High moves to high tech learning and District web site, Nanakuli and Wai'anae High School students honor Stone Family for $100,000 gift.