On first glance, the Metro school in Columbus, Ohio, looks more like a workplace than a high school. Classrooms spill out into open spaces where students sit against the walls, computers balanced on their knees as they work, or head out to an internship or college course. They dress in business attire with a smidge of teenage flair – as Principal Marcy Raymond puts it, “like they work in a bank on a Friday.”
Metro Early College High School looks different from most high schools because it is. Opened in the fall of 2006, it:
- uses a core curriculum steeped in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
- requires students to achieve an A before passing a class.
- allows students to take college classes at Ohio State University in their third year, if they qualify.
- has students from 16 different school districts.
- is operated by the Educational Council, a confederation of those 16 districts.
- is partnered with The Ohio State University, Battelle and KnowledgeWorks Foundation.
- allows students to participate in sports and other extra-curricular activities at their “home” high school.
- has added a full grade of about 100 students each year since it opened in 2006. It will be a complete, four-year school in the 2009-10 school year.
While the gender balance of the student population is tipped to boys (60 percent), the makeup of the school is generally a reflection of Franklin County’s population, with 60 percent from urban districts, 40 percent in the free or assisted lunch program and 10 percent in an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
