Our Charter

Our Charter

• Why a Foster City High School?
• Educational Philosophies
• Who Can Attend?
• What it means to be an Educated Person in the 21st century
• Curriculum and Instructional Design
  • High Expectations Lead to High Achieving Students
  • Personalized Learning Environment and Teacher Advisors Are Essential for Increased Student Learning
  • Project Based Curriculum Deepens Student Learning and Knowledge Retention
  • A School Day Resembling the Work Day Reinforces the Connections to the World of Work
  • Year-Round Operations Make Better Use of Time and Reduce Learning
  • Utilizing Technology Will Enable Learning
  • Increased Teacher Planning Time Strengthens Instructional Effectiveness

Why a Foster City High School?

California’s economy requires a workforce with many more who have science and mathematics training.  Despite a significant job gap for lack of qualified applicants in high technology, California’s highest paying sector, only 3 percent of California 9th graders go on to earn a baccalaureate degree in science, mathematics, or engineering.  Second, as the State Superintendent for Public Instruction has noted, achievement in California high schools has been stagnant.  In the SMUHSD, achievement lines in core subjects have been flat for many years, albeit at a higher level than the state average.  This school is part of the effort to address both situations.

The California Council on Science and Technology’s (CCST) exhaustive “Critical Path Analysis of California’s Science and Technology Education System” declared that “students are not adequately prepared to pursue Science and Engineering (S&E) baccalaureate degrees.”  They also had low interest in S&E.  Both problems, according to CCST, stemmed from “inadequate exposure to S&E in K-12 and poorly qualified high school mathematics and science teachers, particularly in low-income and minority schools.”  This is a significant reason that only half of S&E majors completed their degrees in 5 years or less in California.  Two-thirds of S&E enrollees in the California State University system never completed their programs.

High technology is California’s second largest economic sector (after retail) and larger than the third and fourth sectors (wholesale trade and transportation) combined.  This sector offers attractive compensation, well beyond most other industries.  Annual wages in California’s science and technology industries averaged $73,556 in 1999 compared with $37,311 for all the state’s industries.  Computer and office equipment manufacturing wages reached $119,677. 

CCST notes that nearly half of all computer, communications, and semiconductor jobs are in Silicon Valley.  Through 2008, jobs demanding high levels of education such as computer programmers, computer support specialists, database administrators and biological scientists are projected to grow over 60 percent.

Despite this potential, a huge shortage of qualified workers looms, even when the current industry slowdown is factored into the equation.  The Information Technology Association of America estimates the job gap at 116,500 in the western US in 2001 and CCST states that 14,000 jobs requiring baccalaureate degrees in science and engineering went unfilled in 2001.  It further notes that the number of science and engineering degrees granted in California would have to increase 70 percent to make up the deficit.  But mathematics and engineering baccalaureates fell 13 percent in the 1990s and computer science degrees rose only 10 percent compared with a 14 percent overall increase in baccalaureate degrees during that time.  White enrollment in science and engineering programs declined about 18 percent as did the number of degrees earned.  Latino participation climbed, but still accounts for less than 10 percent of science and engineering degrees, even though Latinos are nearly 45 percent of the K-12 population.  Foster City High School (FCHS) directly addresses two of the largest deficiencies of comprehensive high schools. 

A lack of a personalization fails to engage many students in learning or connect them with caring adults, leads to high attrition rates between the 9th and 12th grades, and shallow understanding of content.  Failure to connect high school curriculum with work in the outside world and demonstrate to students the genuine value in the content further promotes student disengagement.

Evidence of these problems is apparent in the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD) and throughout California, generating enormous cost to our youth, taxpayers, and economy.  SMUHSD graduates approximately 20 percent fewer students than entered four years earlier.  Only 40 percent of entering SMUHSD 9th graders graduate four years later meeting the UC/CSU entrance requirements with a grade of C or better.  Only 19 percent of Hispanic/Latinos and African-Americans and 16 percent of Pacific Islander students achieve at this level.  In fact, only 34 percent of white males meet these standards compared with 60 percent of Asian of males.  Nearly half of SMUHSD graduates entering CSU, the upper third of its graduating class with a minimum of 3.0 grade point averages, require remediation in English and one-third require remediation in mathematics.

This charter school builds upon, but also extends efforts underway in SMUHSD to address many of these issues.  A core curriculum to raise expectations and place all freshmen and sophomores on track to meet the UC/CSU entrance requirement has been proposed.  To increase personalization and adult-student connections, Hillsdale High School has implemented a smaller learning community model for freshmen entering in 2003.  The number of advanced placement courses available has been increased for the 2003-04 academic year, allowing many more students to access the most rigorous curriculum and the International Baccalaureate program will begin operating at Capuchino High School in 2004-05.  For many years the district has operated a Middle College at College of San Mateo to allow a limited number of students to complete their diploma and earn college credits simultaneously.  Centralizing many of the best features in one location and enhancing them with the additional features, such as project based learning, a year around calendar, and closer ties to the world of work provides a beneficial option for district families and students.

Educational Philosophies

Foster City High School (FCHS) will provide rigorous standards-based academic curriculum, with a focus on mathematics and science, which will meet or exceed the entrance requirements for the University of California.  As a small school of approximately 500 students, each with a personalized learning plan developed with parents and a teacher-advisor who will guide the student until graduation, FCHS will counter the isolation and disengagement found in most traditional comprehensive high schools.  San Mateo Union High School District’s (SMUHSD) comprehensive schools average approximately 1313 students.

Although a small school cannot in itself guarantee high academic achievement, research demonstrates that reduced size facilitates the activities that lead to greater learning.  Much of the improvement occurs because the adults and especially the teachers know each student at a deeper level.  Studies have shown for example that students in smaller high schools have higher attendance rates and fewer incidents of violence and discipline problems. (The Case for Smaller High Schools, Tom Van Ark, Education Leadership, February 2002). 

Other analyses indicate that smaller high schools have produced higher academic performance for students with disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, reduced dropout rates, and increased participation in extracurricular activities (Small Schools- Important Policy Issues on Small High Schools, National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future).  Parents of children in smaller high schools are more likely to report that their children’s schools provide a better learning environment, higher academic standards, less overcrowding, less student alienation and isolation, less bullying and harassment and more parental involvement (Small High Schools Get Thumbs Up from Parents, Public Agenda, February 19, 2002).

Student learning will emphasize projects to encourage curiosity, inquiry, and anchor knowledge to real world contexts.  Technology and social skills essential for collaboration and teamwork will be integrated.  Students will learn to communicate clearly, think creatively, work in partnerships, and self-manage.  In the junior and senior years, this approach will expand to provide real world experiences in the community with business leaders through internships and mentorship tied to the curriculum with measurable outcomes. 

A year around calendar will provide increased opportunities for targeted intervention to assist under-performing students and ensure that they meet English, mathematics, and science requirements at graduation and are prepared for post secondary education.  Some students may require more than four years to meet graduation requirements and will be accommodated.  Focused staff development and collaboration time will enable teachers to shape instructional practices to address individual student learning needs.

Who Can Attend?

Foster City High School (FCHS) intends to open September 2008, with 125 freshmen students, adding a grade level each year, until reaching full capacity of approximately 500 students in September 2011.  Our central goal is to graduate college-ready students prepared to train for high skilled, high wage careers, and who have a foundation of knowledge and skills required of 21st century adults.  Students will become self-motivated, competent, lifelong learners who will contribute positively to society.

FCHS will be especially attractive to students who seek a rigorous curriculum presented in a more personalized, active, project-based environment.  We anticipate students who have been successful in the traditional instructional methods as well as those who have under performed. 

This school will serve an economically and ethnically diverse student population that reflects the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD) and surrounding areas.  The District’s student demographics are shifting as the white population (48%) becomes a minority.  Hispanic/Latino, African American, Filipino, and Pacific Islander students account for 32 percent, with the remainder mostly Asian.  FCHS will boldly address the need to attract more students, particularly from underrepresented minority groups of Hispanic/Latino, African American, and Pacific Islander, to the study of mathematics, science, and engineering.  It will work closely with SMUHSD and nearby middle schools to recruit pupils.  Moreover, it anticipates partnerships and alliances with youth programs and community organizations.

Currently, about one-third of entering ninth graders from the District’s feeder network score at a reading level of sixth grade or lower.  One of the two middle schools in this east of 101 corridor, Bayside Middle School, is nearly 40 percent Hispanic/Latino with another 10 percent Pacific Islander and has been designated as an arts and technology school.  The free and reduced lunch population is 37 percent of students.  FCHS expects to leverage that resource.  Abbott Middle School, west of Highway 101 a few miles, also has a large Hispanic/Latino population (36 percent) as well as a sizeable number receiving free and reduced lunches (24 percent).

What it means to be an Educated Person in the 21st century

An educated person in the 21st century must be able to solve problems and think innovatively.  A solid foundation of knowledge, including history, English and literature, science, and mathematics is critical, but the educated person must be able to apply that knowledge effectively.  The ability to obtain, analyze and utilize information and information technology skillfully and efficiently is essential.  Self-motivated individuals who understand that the necessity to learn will continue throughout their lifetimes will have the greatest prospects for fulfilling lives in the 21st century.

How learning best occurs

No single approach leads to learning for every student.  Presenting every student with a rigorous curriculum and high expectations for achievement is the foundation for learning.  Research demonstrates that building connections to adults, especially with dedicated and motivated teachers, consistently leads to higher achievement.  As a small school, Foster City High School (FCHS) will facilitate these interactions.  Moreover, each student will develop a Personalized Learning Plan as a road map for learning goals. Each plan will be customized and regularly reviewed through student, parent, and teacher-advisor consultations. The teacher-advisor will remain with the student throughout high school. 

Consistent with the belief in the importance of applying knowledge to solve problems, FCHS will utilize project-based learning to promote active involved learning through cycles of inquiry connected to real world situations.  Students will not simply learn facts and figures, but become engaged in discovering knowledge with the guidance and instruction of skilled teachers.  Internships in companies and community organizations will further tie the curriculum with real world issues that adults are working to resolve or address.

Curriculum and Instructional Design

• High Expectations Lead to High Achieving Students
• Personalized Learning Environment and Teacher Advisors Are Essential for Increased Student Learning
• Project Based Curriculum Deepens Student Learning and Knowledge Retention
• A School Day Resembling the Work Day Reinforces the Connections to the World of Work
• Year-Round Operations Make Better Use of Time and Reduce Learning
• Utilizing Technology Will Enable Learning
• Increased Teacher Planning Time Strengthens Instructional Effectivenes

High Expectations Lead to High Achieving Students

Research for the past two decades indicates that when teachers, administrators, and parents have high expectation and set challenging goals, achievement consistently increases.  FCHS will meet or exceed the Content Standards for California Schools in all curriculum areas.  Its graduation requirements will meet or exceed the A-G entrance requirements for the University of California/California State University (UC/CSU) systems.  Students must pass lower division (9th and 10th grade performance standards before graduating to upper division (11th and 12th grades).  Graduation from both divisions will be solely based on performance, not time.  Some students may want or need more than four years to graduate from the high school subject only to the maximum age limitations required by law.  All FCHS students will be prepared to continue their education either in college or an advanced post secondary training program. 

Personalized Learning Environment and Teacher Advisors Are Essential for Increased Student Learning

FCHS will minimize the alienation and disengagement that permeates larger comprehensive high schools in several ways.  FCHS intends to maintain a student-faculty ration of not more than 25:1.  With a student body of approximately 500, different student needs, backgrounds, and aspirations will be acknowledged and supported.  FCHS staff will know every student well.  All students will be engaged in an Advisory Program, whereby they will be guided by one teacher through the four years. Each student will develop a Personalized Learning Plan with advisor and parent/guardian input containing his/her goals and step-by-step objectives to attain them.  Meeting weekly in groups of approximately 10-15 students, the Advisories will ground students in the elements of independent thinking, planning, and study and will guide them through a continuum of regularly monitored projects to a successful student-initiated senior project.  FCHS intends to maximize parent involvement through innovative approaches to tutoring programs, teacher liaisons, mini-field trips, workplace visits, and committee participation.

Project Based Curriculum Deepens Student Learning and Knowledge Retention

Students learn at the deepest, most meaningful level and develop critical thinking skills when they actively solve problems.  Whenever students become practitioners, rather than vessels that store knowledge, the learning experience is greatly enhanced.  Based on research and experience with project based learning at similar schools, projects at FCHS will be to the extent possible:

Designed as authentic, complex real world experiences that might actually be tackled by an adult at work or in the community;

Emerge from needs in the community, social issues, physical, emotional or recreational needs; from industry or business activities;

Allow students to see a purpose for what they are doing beyond receiving a grade;

Interdisciplinary in nature, requiring students to work across academic subjects, combining, for example, science and math or history and literature;

Require students to develop high order thinking skills such as searching for evidence or analyzing different perspectives;

Open to public scrutiny when completed.

Students in the 11th and 12th grades will spend part of their days working off-site in industry internships tied closely to the academic and overall mission of the school.  Mentors working with students in workplaces on issues relevant to the student’s academic interests and to the company will further strengthen connections with adults and the world of work

A School Day Resembling the Work Day Reinforces the Connections to the World of Work

The day at FCHS will more closely resemble that in the world of work with classes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Any tutorials and extracurricular activities will commence after 4 p.m.

Year-Round Operations Make Better Use of Time and Reduce Learning Loss

To establish a more rational use of instructional time, reduce stress on both students and faculty, minimize learning loss during the long summer break, and focus teaching resources for higher learning, FCHS will operate year-round.  Research finds that the year-round calendar prompts positive changes in both instructional practices and curricular material; the reduced summer break aids in retention of knowledge, especially for disadvantaged and at-risk students; and classes and/or remediation conducted in the intersession breaks increases learning. 

The model anticipated is four 9 week sessions with 2-3 week vacation periods following 3 of the sessions. A somewhat longer break of about 4-6 weeks is planned during the summer period.  FCHS will seek funding to operate intersession programs during the breaks.  The primary purpose will be targeted remedial programs for students who have not mastered the material and may need additional time and assistance. 

Utilizing Technology Will Enable Learning