Meet our faculty - Mrs. Deborah Brown, English

We are excited to share with you a little bit about our newest faculty member, Mrs. Deborah Brown.

Deborah Brown comes to RTHS from her position as English Department Chair at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School. Mrs. Brown is a National Board Certified Teacher with a Master’s Degree summa cum laude from Syracuse University. She holds four teaching licenses in secondary and middle school English, Speech Communications, and Theater Arts and has over 20 years of teaching experience, including time teaching in New York and Boston, and more locally at Green Hope High School in Wake County. 

Her specialties include Speech and Debate and student journalism, and she has coached Debate teams, Mock Trial Teams and Drama performances to competitions at the local, regional, state and even national levels. She is trained in the New Tech model of Project Based Learning and is one of the original facilitators for the iLead 21 leadership development course, piloting the first national model and serving as a consultant and contributor to writing the advanced levels of the program. She has been a presenter at county and state conferences on topics such as student leadership in the classroom and using social grouping to encourage closer textual readings. Her projects and writings have been published on national platforms, including DailyKos and The Huffington Post. Mrs. Brown has been honored as a teacher-of-the-year nominee at the school level and was named a North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching Scholar in Residence. She is looking forward to many “firsts” at RTHS—first yearbook, first newspaper, first debate team, and more, and is excited to work with a great community of students, parents, and colleagues in this shared vision of a new way to “do school.”

Meet our faculty - Mr. Richard Jowers, PE and Health

We are excited to share with you a little bit about our newest faculty member, Mr. Richard Jowers. 

My name is Richard Jowers. I received my degree in Health and Physical Education K-12 with a minor in coaching from Elizabeth City State University. During my years at Elizabeth City State, I earned three letters while on the football team. I also have held positions on campus such as the president of my fraternity, Omega Psi Phi Inc., as well as serving as a campus photographer for sports and activities. My coaching experience includes coaching football for the 2010 state championship runner-ups 2AA Northeastern High School and the 2011 CIAA Runner ups Division 2 Elizabeth City State University. My basketball coaching experience ranges from high school to AAU girls and boys teams for almost four years.

I have a background in many sports from basketball to tennis. I attended four high schools between Virginia and North Carolina so I believe I have a good understanding of the different demographics, culture and politics. I have a background as a rehabilitation technician and working with mentally and physically disabled children. I have many different certifications such as NCI (North Carolina Intervention), CPR and even Photoshop/Adobe series.

I believe that I can offer RTHS leadership, group cooperation and initiative. I offer students a wealth of knowledge beyond the classroom that will help them in life. I also believe that I have the ability to engage all students and make them value education. I don’t believe I can change the world, but I believe I can help our children do so.

Meet our faculty - Dr. Lara Pacifici, Biology

We are excited to share with you a little bit about our newest faculty member, Dr. Lara Pacifici.

Dr. Lara Pacifici earned a B.S. in Environmental and Forest Biology from SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, a M.S. in Wildlife Biology from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of Georgia. She has worked on wildlife research projects, including dolphin and gray whale behavioral studies in San Diego, deer and small mammal tracking in the Adirondacks, and black bear habitat and population analyses in Pisgah National Forest. Dr. Pacifici taught biology at Raleigh Charter High School from 2004 to 2007. She was the assistant women’s soccer coach, Student Government co-advisor, and Science Olympiad assistant coach at Raleigh Charter. Research experiences played an important role in Dr. Pacifici’s understanding of science, so when she returned to graduate school in 2007, her doctoral research focused on the expectations and outcomes of undergraduates’ experiences participating in science research. After earning her doctorate, she worked as an Assistant Professor of Biology Education at Kennesaw State University in Georgia from 2010 to 2011. Dr. Pacifici and her family moved back to Raleigh in August of 2011. Since then, she has worked for North Carolina State University as a supervisor for student teachers.   

Meet our faculty - Dr. Amanda Marvelle, Biology and 21st Century Media

We are excited to share with you a little bit about our newest faculty member, Dr. Amanda Marvelle.

Dr. Amanda Marvelle earned her B.S. in Biology with an emphasis in computational science from Wofford College in 2003. Prior to her graduate studies, Dr. Marvelle researched the genetics of pheochromocytoma at the National Institute of Child and Human Development, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD as a Post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award Fellow. In 2010, Dr. Marvelle received her Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under the direction of Dr. Karen Mohlke. Her research focused on the Genetics of Obesity-related Traits and Lipoproteins in Filipino Women. Dr. Marvelle has ten published peer-reviewed articles (née Nave) and was awarded the University of North Carolina Integrative Vascular Biology Predoctoral Fellowship and the Sarah Graham Kenan and Hobgood Edwards Dissertation Fellowship.  

Dr. Marvelle is currently the Education Director and High School Development Project Manager for the Contemporary Science Center and Research Triangle High School (RTHS). She teaches both day-long inquiry-based field studies as well as a biology lab for homeschooled students.  In addition, she coordinates and manages aspects of opening RTHS. Dr. Marvelle has an extensive background in science education; Most notably, she was an integral part of establishing North Carolina DNA Day and has taught students from elementary to adult in a range of science topics. She loves teaching and science! 

Meet our faculty - Mr. Alex Drake, History

We are excited to share with you a little bit about our newest faculty member, Mr. Alex Drake.

Mr. Alex Drake earned a B.A. in History and Secondary Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2005, and will complete work on his M.Ed. in higher education administration at Auburn University in May of 2012.  From 2005 to 2010, he was a social studies teacher at Robinson High School in Concord, N.C., where he taught U.S. History, AP U.S. History, Civics and Economics, and World History.  While at Robinson he also coached the quiz bowl team and was the Social Studies Department's representative on the School Improvement Team.  He was a finalist for Robinson's Teacher of the Year Award in 2010 and was a nominee for the UNC-Charlotte Beginning Teacher Award in 2008.  An avid trivia enthusiast, Mr. Drake was a contestant on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" in 2008. Mr. Grunden was his phone-a-friend lifeline and helped him answer the $4,000 question.  He also has an interest in athletics and has worked part-time for the Kannapolis Intimidators minor league baseball team as well as the athletic departments at UNC- Charlotte and Auburn. 

In which we respond to the media craziness

There has been a lot of public discussion this week about charter schools in NC and their role in our public education system. Parents of the 33,000 students in NC charter schools may consider them primarily as a choice that allows their children to have an educational environment that better matches their families’ values and students’ needs.

Research Triangle High School (RTHS), a proposed charter school awaiting approval in March, is one new option on the horizon. The Charter Advisory Council, established by the State Board of Education with a majority of Gubernatorial appointees, delivered a recommendation for RTHS’ approval as a new Fast Track school with a unanimous vote in December. RTHS sees the lifting of the charter cap as more than a new option, though. It is an opportunity for a team of people with deep experience from the Contemporary Science Center and some of the Triangle’s strongest schools, both charter and regular, to push innovation in ways that schools cannot. The autonomy and flexibility which charters have been given by the General Assembly allow charters to be unique tools for driving innovation, which benefit the entire public education system. Nationally this has very much been the case. For instance, from KIPP charter schools we have learned the benefits of Extended Learning Time, implemented now at Lowes Grove and Neal Middle Schools in Durham. From High Tech High charters in San Diego we have seen how whole-school models of Problem-Based Learning can raise achievement for a very diverse population of kids, now being implemented in many of our New Schools Project schools.

Research Triangle High School has chosen this focus of driving innovation as its mission. Contrary to public misunderstandings, RTHS plans to offer a unique high school experience to young people from across the Triangle who reflect the great diversity we have in our region in race, nationality, economic background and gender. We are very specifically targeting students in the great middle of achievement – from those who may be a year behind as they enter ninth  grade to those who are a year ahead. At 420 students, working with less than one half of one percent of the teenaged population of any surrounding county, the school will be developing and sharing innovations with public school teachers, students and schools across the state. RTHS plans to open a school that uses the talent and resources of Research Triangle industry as a ‘living museum’ for education, and blend that with local expertise in digital media. RTHS students will learn from a blend of digital materials and hands-on experiences - chosen to enable ‘open sourcing’ of all that we will teach. In-depth experiences with Triangle scientists, engineers and IT specialists will go online, for access by distant teachers and students. Rural and urban teachers will be invited for intense residencies, to learn side by side with our faculty. Educators and visitors will be hosted at workshops and seminars, both locally and virtually. RTHS will be a place where students from a broad background can learn in ways that are truly reflective of our 21^st century workplace. And it will be a partner in sharing that learning across North Carolina.

Charter schools are unique options for families and their kids. And as students switch schools either for choice or family moves, school funding dollars follow all our students wherever they enroll. At Research Triangle High School we are excited to have the support of the many companies and institutions that have supported our plans thus far. But we can do more. By working five to ten years ahead with the newest models, by being the first to take a chance on innovations, charter schools can move the needle on achievement for all children and young people in our entire public education system. That is the mission we have at Research Triangle High School.

A Day in the Life of an RTHS Student

Howard is up early, just like every morning. He can’t complain; it’s only a thirty-five minute bus ride to Research Triangle High School. Some of his neighbors have an even longer bus ride to their base schools, and they don’t have WiFi on their buses like he does. Howard catches the Triangle Transit Authority bus from a grocery store parking lot in West Raleigh every day, which drops him right at RTHS with an hour to spare before his first class.

Once on the bus he takes out his tablet and connects to his playlist. His chemistry teacher has suggested a video and a slide deck that two other teachers have produced to help him learn how to draw organic chemical structures. Last night he watched his teacher’s introductory video, commented on it, and tried his homework. Simple straight chains are easy, but he still isn’t confident with functional groups. The video is short, and knows that he can always use the drawing utility he has downloaded to try drawing structures. The program can name the structure he draws, and tell him if he drew it correctly. He opens his notebook and the slide deck and listens to another teacher’s lecture. Within a few minutes he is sure he can recognize an ether molecule and is able to answer the questions on the practice sheet his teacher handed out at the end of class yesterday.

A short walk from the bus station gets Howard to school, which is open early every day. There aren’t many other students here yet, so there are plenty of empty chairs in the gallery. He usually spends this hour before school finishing homework. It’s great to have that time at school because there is always a teacher in the gallery for help. With chemistry out of the way, his tablet can become his book for English class. His assignment is to post three questions about the reading to the class’ Google document to discuss the next day. He likes this assignment because he gets his questions answered and doesn’t have to worry about volunteering to ask them himself, unless the question is a good one—then he’ll take credit for it.

Off to first period: Government and Politics. He is part of a small group producing a campaign commercial for a made-up local government candidate. They have finished researching the laws concerning campaign ads and are planning theirs. They will shoot the video next week and edit it in time for next Friday’s due date. Part of the assignment is to find and critique four ads on the Internet. Each group member has already found one, and today they are showing them to each other and discussing them. Their teacher spends a few minutes with each group checking and grading their progress. They have checkpoints to meet at certain places in the project’s life cycle as well as a final grade.

Second period is English. Luckily he has finished the reading, as his teacher gives a reading quiz. It isn’t difficult, but just another progress check. The class discussion is lively, and the teacher and his classmates answer his questions about the reading during class.

Third period is his study hall time. Study hall is different at RTHS than at other schools. Rather than quietly sitting at a desk, students migrate to the gallery or to one of several small groups of couches and chairs in corners and hallways all over the school. A teacher is always present at one of the designated study areas (DSA) to take attendance, so students have to find a group with a teacher and check in. The groups stay pretty constant all year as students sit with friends or classmates in similar classes. The teachers are there for help and to keep the period productive, but students are allowed to talk quietly and work together. Students do homework, watch class videos (with earbuds), or read for fun, as long as it’s productive. Gaming and Facebook have to wait.

Fourth period is Howard’s music class, his favorite class. He is studying music composition and production. He and his fellow students use sequencing software to compose and produce music during class. Each student sits with headphones on, editing samples and layering tracks. His teacher spends time with each student, jacking his own headset in to hear what students are working on. It is nice not having to lug around a trumpet to make music. Later in the year his class will upload the tracks for release to the Internet as well as putting on a show for parents.

After lunch he still has geometry, Spanish, and chemistry. Chemistry is work in the lab, making esters. It is nice to do something hands-on after so much computer work all day. He doesn’t mind working on his tablet, and it is nice to be able take all of his work with him anywhere he goes. Spanish is language lab practice, which gives him the time to practice speaking with as well as listening to native speakers his class chats with over the web. By the end of the day, Howard has a new set of sources for his playlist and a few more homework assignments, but he knows his teachers will be ‘going home’ with him, virtually, and tomorrow he will be back in front of them with time to practice what he watched and simulated the night before. He and his friends will be chatting and posting tonight as well. With all the help he can get at just about any time, he realizes, the school day doesn’t really end.

Guest blog post on The RTP Blog

RTHS is being featured on TheRTPblog.org

Check out our guest blog post here.

Below is the post:

Did you know that RTP will soon have its very own high school dedicated to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) learning?  Research Triangle High School (RTHS) is anticipating opening as a public charter school in RTP this August 2012.  The school’s launch is spearheaded by Pamela Blizzard, a founder of nationally-ranked Raleigh Charter High School, and of the science education non-profit Contemporary Science Center in Durham’s Museum of Life and Science.

RTHS will offer an education that blends digital materials with experiential learning, enabling us to reach a broad spectrum of learners, and to develop young people into mature, sophisticated thinkers and doers. We hope to draw applicants from a range of academic, economic and minority backgrounds… a school that will represent the diversity of the Triangle. Our goal is to accelerate learning for all who come to this school, preparing them for college and our globally competitive work world.

 Innovations at RTHS:

* Cutting-edge instructional techniques will blend digital material and collaborative experiences, reflecting the mobile world in which we live and work today.

* ‘Flipped’ coursework will allow students to learn from digital lectures and material outside of class time, and to learn from group labs, seminars and collaborative projects during class time, allowing much greater differentiation for students’ learning.

* Research Triangle industry internships and projects, developed through partnerships with surrounding companies, will allow students to develop skills and a solid sense of the work-world around them and their place in it.

* An extended school day will provide more opportunities for instruction and help outside of class, as well as overcome transportation barriers.

* Learning Teams of teachers and industry experts will support key STEM learning objectives, creating a fertile field of experts collaborating to create better learning opportunities for students both at RTHS and beyond.

Are you the parent of a rising 9th grader and looking at high school options?  We are anticipating charter approval by February 3^rd. The student application period will open for rising ninth grade students on February 4th and close on March 15.  The school will begin with a ninth grade class of 160 students, and add a new grade each fall until grades 9-12 are covered with a projected student enrollment of 420. For more details visit:www.researchtrianglehighschool.org.

Research Triangle High School RTP Open Houses

Friday, February 10^th 12 PM to 1 PM
Wednesday, February 15^th 5:30 PM to 7 PM

Research Triangle Park Headquarters

12 Davis Drive
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

The Flipped Class Manifest

At RTHS, our education model is built on several innovations chosen from research and success across the country.  RTHS will be a place where students learn by an innovative blend of digital and experiential methods, in order to develop into mature, sophisticated thinkers and doers.  One of the ways we are going to do this is through a technique called "Flipped Learning." What is Flipped Learning anyway?  Recently, several authors that work with the Flipped Classroom in both administrative and applied positions got together and wrote The Flipped Class Manifest to clearly address the main ideas and the most common concerns raised about the Flipped Classroom. While RTHS will not be offering exactly what they describe, this article is a nice introduction and a great springboard for discussion on Flipped Learning. In summary, flipped coursework will allow students to learn from digital lectures and material outside class during traditional homework time and to practice higher order thinking skills through group labs, seminars and collaborative projects during class time.  The flipped digital content can be reviewed and learners will have access to any topic whenever they need it.  This technique will allow much greater differentiation for students, engage both teacher and student, and afford students much greater practice time with content and skills during class time when the teacher is present. Below are some notable quotes from the article:  "Flip" is a verb. We are actively transferring the responsibility and ownership of learning from the teacher to the students in a Flipped Classroom. When students have control over how they learn content, the pace of their learning, and how their learning is assessed, the learning belongs to them.  Teachers become guides to understanding rather than dispensers of facts, and students become active learners rather than receptacles of information.  Practitioners of the various flipped classroom models are constantly tweaking, changing, rejecting, adding to, and generally trying to improve the model through direct experience with how effective it is for kids. It's not "record your lecture once" and you're done; it's part of a comprehensive instructional model that includes direct instruction, inquiry, practice, formative and summative assessment and much more. It also allows teachers to reflect on and develop quality and engaging learning opportunities and options for internalization, creation, and application of content rather than just fluff or time filling assignments.

What do you think about Flipped Learning?  Do you have any questions about the technique? We welcome further discussion on this topic!

What are we doing?!

Last month Eric Grunden and I visited the Ohio STEM Hub collaborative and some of its key schools. MC2/Squared High School in Cleveland was highly recommended, so we spent half a day with the indomitable Jeff McClellan and were not disappointed. MCSquared is a small high school in downtown Cleveland, a public district with virtually 100% free and reduced lunch students. Since opening in 2008 they have skyrocketed to the top of the Cleveland public school district rankings with their strong problem-based learning program and innovative partnerships with the Cleveland science museum, GE Lighting and others in local industry.

So this year, with state budget cuts pushing the district to do something drastic, they did. They cut the faculty at MCSquared 83%. The fired 83% of the teachers at the top- performing school in their district. Since the kids were not going anywhere, they had to have teachers. So the district brought in substitute teachers to fill those slots - people without content knowledge or teaching experience. Jeff McClellan is working his young, passionate talented heart out to bring these new folks up to speed on how to... teach... innovatively and in a problem-based learning environment. But ...

What on earth are we doing in this country?!!

Engineering Paradise Video

One of our Board Members, Craig Nygard, has a friend that did this video.

Learning about engineering is cool!

Application submitted on November 4th to NC Board of Education

After months of preparation, on November 4th we submitted a charter application to the North Carolina Board of Education to open a STEM high school in Research Triangle Park.