Columbus

Metro Early College High School

Metro Early College High School is a small and intellectually vibrant learning community open to students in Franklin County. Metro Early College High School is designed to serve students who want a personalized and extraordinary learning experience that prepares them for a connected world where math, science and technology are vitally important. All Metro students engage in a personally relevant and academically rigorous curriculum within a safe and trusting environment.

Metro is not a charter school. It is a high school operated by the Educational Council – a confederation of the 16 public school districts in Franklin County. Students who attend Metro will be concurrently enrolled in their home district and will remain a part of the public school system in Franklin County.

School Snapshot

What is the mission of the Metro Early College High School?
“Turning college aspirations into reality through personal relevance, academic rigor and transformative relationships.”

Who can attend the Metro Early College High School?
Metro seeks students who are intellectually curious and motivated to achieve in a STEM environment. We use a lottery system of selection per district and therefore our student population may vary according to the pool of applicants. As a strategy, we actively recruit membership for the lottery targeting students who live in high poverty areas and do not currently have family members who have entered/completed a college program of studies. Our aim is to provide an environment where students who would not have access to a rigorous curriculum targeted toward collegiate success have experiences and exposures that will enable them to complete a 4-year college experience..

What makes Metro Early College High School different?
All member's of the Metro community seeks to improve their practice of the Metro Habits of Heart and Mind:

1. Effective Communicator
2. Inquiring Learner
3. Active and Responsible Decision Maker
4. Effective Collaborator
5. Critical Thinker
6. Engaged Learner

Metro Early College High School is guided by the Ten Common Principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools. These 10 principles are inspiring high school redesign across the nation. The Ten Common Principles are:

1. The school’s central intellectual purpose is helping students to use their minds well.
2. An essential body of knowledge, skills and dispositions will be identified for student mastery.
3. The school’s goals apply to all students.
4. The school will be highly personalized.
5. A governing practical metaphor will be "student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach."
6. Teaching and learning will be documented by student performance on real tasks.
7. The tone of the school will be one of trust and decency.
8. The principal and teachers will act as generalists first and specialists second.
9. Resources will be modest and therefore positioned toward teaching and learning.
10. The school will emphasize democratic, fair and equitable practices.

The curricular approach to instruction has a dual focus, literacy (math and reading) and real world investigation (social science, life science, and environmental science). To attain this focus, Metro has developed and implemented an integrated math and science curriculum where mathematics becomes a component of the “language” of science. This approach emphasizes the importance of a fluent knowledge of mathematical and scientific process, application through more in-depth science exploration, elements and aspects of design, and innovation. As a component of the “language” of science, students must demonstrate their ability to communicate numerically, graphically, algebraically, verbally, and in writing their understanding and evaluation of empirical evidence in all that they do.

Metro has a holistic approach to educating the students—focusing on cognitive, social, emotional and physical development through experiential learning, service learning and family and community support. Each family is an integral component of Metro's decision-making process. We call this process, STEMocracy. Using tools like our Town Hall Meetings, policy is established from the governed through responsible citizenry.

What are the school’s teaching and learning philosophies?
Metro Early College High School — A Unique Philosophy and Opportunity

• Students participate an integrated curriculum that fosters critical thinking, creativity and communication.
• Academics emphasize how math, science and technology shape our world.
• Students learn in a community that honors democracy, diversity and ethical leadership.
• Faculty and mentors focus on the talents of the whole student.
• Faculty and students work on projects that benefit the greater community.
• The school is a focal point of professional development, educational research and innovation.

When does the recruitment start for both teachers and students?
Metro is currently taking applications for incoming 9th grade students. Students can apply online at www.themetroschool.org.

When will the school open its doors?
Metro is in its third year of operation.  Currently enrolled students are in grades 9 to 11.  Fall 2009 will bring class of 2013 students into the school when all grades 9-12 are a part of the school.