Mission Statement
Opportunities, Technology and Education
TechBoston Academy 's essential belief is that every student can learn and develop into a responsible citizen by providing an environment that is both nurturing and challenging. TBA offers a college preparatory curriculum, which includes interdisciplinary project, based learning where technology is the bridge that connects the student to their learning experience.
GOALS: - To actively engage students in their own educational process and improve their academic performance as measured by MCAS and other assessment tools.
- To integrate state of the art technologies into all learning opportunities and prepare students for higher education and career development.
- To hold all members, both student and teacher, to high standards and promote an environment conducive for successful learning by all.
Description
The impetus for TechBoston Academy grew within the context of Boston Public Schools commitment to systemic educational reform. This reform was represented by the goals of several organizations, including the Model Secondary Schools Project (MSSP) and the Learning and Information Network for the Community (LINC). Both of these groups sought to show that using technology, if used effectively, had powerful positive effects on student learning outcomes.
On November 3, 2001, Superintendent Thomas Payzant and Mayor Thomas Menino together launched LINC 2 the Future, a new five-year technology, teaching and learning plan for the Boston Public Schools. LINC 2 breaks new ground by providing a MyBPS portal to Boston's students, teachers, administrators, and parents that will foster home and school communications and on-demand learning. In addition, LINC 2 will support the scale-up of Technology Goes Home @ School, the City of Boston initiative to train parents and students together for technology and to place computers in the home.
TechBoston, begun in 1999, originally provided technology-based courses for BPS high school students to learn current technical skills for their own career development. TechBoston, unique to Boston, is an outgrowth of Boston's technology initiatives, and is an award-winning and nationally recognized program. The first students in the US to pass industry certification tests in a range of informational technology areas such as web design and networking were graduates of TechBoston.
The extension of TechBoston Academy to a full-time secondary school is being launched within the overall context of the BPS commitment to systemic reform as articulated in Focus on Children II: Boston's Education Reform Plan 2001-2006, adopted by the Boston School Committee in April 2001. Focus on Children II (FOC2) summarizes the accomplishments of the first five years of Boston's commitment to systemic reform under the leadership of Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant. It outlines the strategies for the next five years, which build on the experience, learning, challenges and success of the previous five years.
