Employer-Linked Charter School Initiative

School Profile
SKILLS FOR TOMOROW HIGH SCHOOL, St. Paul, MN

About the School	Curriculum and Instruction
Formation Dynamics	Real-World Practices
Philosophy and Valued Outcomes	Challenges and Solutions
Involved Groups and Decisionmakers	Contact

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Skills for Tomorrow High School (STHS) is a school-to-work charter high school located in St. Paul, Minnesota. The school's Web site (http://www.skillsfortomorrow.org) describes it as "one of Minnesota's oldest outcome-based charter schools" and "the oldest school-to-work charter school in the nation." It opened in a location in Minneapolis in 1994, moved to its current site in St. Paul in 1998, and currently enrolls approximately 125 students on a year-round basis.

FORMATION DYNAMICS

STHS's Web site states, "The work of Skills for Tomorrow is to prepare young people for the workplace." The school's lead administrator corroborates this mission in stating that the most important issue that prompted the formation of the school was "the need for skilled workers in the workplace and students coming out of high school [who] would have the skills to compete in post-secondary and high-tech workplaces."

PHILOSOPHY AND VALUED OUTCOMES

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The core philosophy of STHS, in the words of its lead administrator, is as follows: "Parents are looking for alternative public education options for their children. They want small schools and they want educators who will partner with them to provide wraparound services for their families. One student at a time—not how many students can do something at the same time!" This philosophy is operationalized by helping students find employment, housing, medical assistance, and child care, starting them in post-secondary training, and providing them with assistance meeting basic living needs.

Specific student outcomes that are valued most highly at STHS include the following (as cited by the school's lead administrator):

Preparation for the reality of life in the 21st century.
Readiness for college, a trade apprenticeship, or work.
Understanding of the links among academic subjects and careers.
Understanding and use of technology (computers, software, etc.).
Knowledge about a wide range of career and education options.
Knowledge of workplace behavior, expectations, and skills.
Ability to actively pursue personal interests and career goals.
Skills such as teamwork, communication, responsibility.
Leadership skills.
Critical and independent thinking skills.

INVOLVED GROUPS AND DECISIONMAKERS

The planning and development phases of STHS were influenced most prominently by four stakeholder groups: educators, business/industry/trade nonprofit employers, labor unions, and the Rockford School District, the rural district that sponsored Skills for Tomorrow. The most significant participants in terms of the school's policies, organizational mission, and direction, as well as in matters of curriculum and instruction, are the principal/director and teachers.

Skills for Tomorrow's governing board is characterized by the school's lead administrator being "influential in all matters and issues except curriculum and instruction." Parents and employers perform a number of key functions, ranging from marketing and public relations to providing learning opportunities outside the school. Students have a voice in decisionmaking and meet "with the director on an as-needed basis to give feedback as to our program." STHS also has a number of organizations with which it has various partnerships, including Goodwill/Easter Seals, Teamsters Service Bureau, YMCA, YWCA, and many for profit and nonprofit organizations in the Twin Cities.

CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

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The curriculum at STHS is structured "to help students acquire the skills they need to succeed in the world of work." The school's Web site states, "At Skills for Tomorrow High School, we implement a school-to-work curriculum designed by our faculty and the EFG Curriculum Collaborative. Educating Future Generations, or EFG, was started in 1978 by Joel Barker and later implemented by Barbara Barnes around the world. This curriculum combines academic rigor with applied learning experiences that helps students achieve a higher level of performance after graduating from high school.

EFG emphasizes a high level of competency for every student. The Portfolio System has performance tasks for students in 12 categories. These categories are integrated into each of the EFG projects so students understand how the world works:

Reading to Understand.
Mathematical Analysis.
Maps, graphs, and charts.
World language development.
Scientific research.
Presentation skills.
Community service.
Health and Fitness.
Technology.
Creative expression.
Report writing.
Social Studies applications.
Career investigation.

These 12 academic categories are all integrated into school-wide projects. Each quarter, one school-wide project is completed. Examples of school-wide projects include:

Business and Technology.
Carrying the Torch.
Design and Build.
Energy and Demands.
Highways and Byways.
World Food Production.

The curriculum at STHS is described by its lead administrator as "very different" from that found in a traditional high school, with the most notable difference involving project-based and skills-based learning, along with a maximum class size of 15 students. It is organized around competencies related to a career, job, career pathway, or occupational cluster, and is stated and defined "somewhat precisely" for teachers. The curriculum is described by the lead administrator as "fluid" and "changing as the educational needs of our students and the best practices that we hear from our customers - the business community." It is "not important" that students be prepared for a particular career, career cluster, or occupational cluster, but "very important" that students understand links between academic subjects and adult life in the real world.

REAL-WORLD PRACTICES

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Real-world learning opportunities that offer students opportunities outside the classroom are described as a "strong emphasis" on the curriculum and organization at STHS, with administrators noting that all students experience such opportunities. Specific forms that these real-world practices take include the following:

Creation of marketable products such as a house or a computer network.
Student placement in a work site for more than two weeks (a paid or unpaid internship/fellowship).
Part-time jobs that are used as a supplementary learning experience.
Job shadowing (a short visit to a workplace).
Apprenticeships (formal training for a specific career).
Student work in a school-based business such as a school store.
Advice from a mentor who works in a business, trade, or industry.
Community development or service learning.
Completion of a research project of six months or longer with people from the community such as business, industry, trade, service agency, or government workers.
Classroom lessons on work skills and behaviors.
Lessons on resume writing, applying for a job, or interviewing.
Completion of a research project on a possible career.

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

The primary challenge encountered by STHS during its first year of existence, in the words of its lead administrator, was "getting the people in place who had the passion to carry on this new endeavor. An educator was the one that carried the torch and did 'battle' with those who thought they could enter this new arena and take advantage of poor kids and benefit from the money that was available for these new public institutions."

Two additional issues that the school has faced include the high rates of poverty experienced by its students and funding. With respect to student poverty, the lead administrator notes that "…Our greatest issue centers around the issues of poverty and how to mainstream our students into a middle class work environment." Regarding funding, she states that "funding for facilities and 'hold back' of 17% of monies each month cause cash flow problems" for the school.

CONTACT