Science-Technology Magnet School Creating Some Chemistry

New London -- Robert and Susan Lawrence believed in the value of the Science and Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut enough to stop home-schooling their son,William, last year and sign him up for the school's 10th grade.

At the time, the school,which opened its doors next to New London High School in September 2006, had little track record or reputation, just the promise of academic excellence focused around science and technology instruction.

Designated as a magnet school, the school uses a lottery system to draw about half its students from New London and half from other towns.

Robert Lawrence of Preston said he and his wife were “very impressed” with Louis Allen Jr., the school's director, and what he told them about the school.

“He's very intelligent, and he certainly is a good representative of what the New London magnet school can be,” Lawrence said.

The “can be” is telling. Halfway through the school's second year, the school is in full swing, with six full-time teachers and 201 students enrolled as of Oct. 1. Students focus on specific programs: environmental sciences, health/biotechnology, physics and engineering under the sciences; and digital media, network design, and database development and administration under technology.

Parents like Lawrence, as well as the students, appear generally satisfied with their school choice, but some things still need work. A yearlong Cisco certification course that gives students the skills necessary to get entry-level jobs working on networking systems is, in its first year, provided as an online class because of the lack of a Cisco-certified technology teacher to teach it, Allen said.

The highly specialized courses offered at the school often require additional training of its teachers, Allen said, leading to a natural shortage of qualified instructors. For example, the school's engineering program, Project Lead the Way, requires the teacher to take extra training in order to teach the brand-specific curriculum.

Allen acknowledged there are kinks and challenges to work through in the new school, whose students this year come from East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, Lisbon, New London, Norwich, Preston, Sprague, Stonington,Waterford, Bozrah, Canterbury, Lyme, Old Lyme, Higganum and Scotland. But he said the school is on the right track, preparing students for college and for careers in science and technology. He called it a “great program,” an “evolving program.”


The magnet school is a state-funded regional school, but it operates under the New London public school system and is considered part of New London High School. Students take core courses at the high school, use its facilities, participate in its after-school activities, and graduate with a New London High School diploma along with their magnet-school certificate.

Allen said the relationship between the magnet school and the high school is one of the biggest questions parents have. The fact that students at the magnet school become part of New London High is also one of the harder sells in what Allen calls his “sales pitch” to middle-school students and parents shopping around for the right high school.

“That's probably one of the bones of contention and barriers that we have to overcome,” Allen said, “because of perceptions, stereotypes,misunderstandings about New London High School.”

Beyond that stigma, Allen said, belonging to the high school means the magnet-school staff spends a lot of time coordinating its school schedule with the high school's. This year, the magnet school hired a University of Connecticut student to intern as a guidance counselor to help its students with their particular needs.

The school is continually evolving, Allen said, and not just with logistical improvements but in terms of the program's strengths. In that sense, the school may never be as good as it should be, because where it should be is always changing, especially with the continuous technological advances, Allen said.

“If you don't keep making it better, you're going to be status quo,” Allen said.

Allen knows the competition he's up against. When he goes out to recruit students, he's joined by representatives from schools like Norwich Free Academy, Norwich Technical High School, Grasso Southeastern Technical High School in Groton, and private schools such as St. Bernard High School in Uncasville.

Allen's job is to keep finding ways to offer educational opportunities students couldn't find elsewhere.

Allen also wants to ensure that the magnet school can attract some of the promising eighth-graders who leave the district — “bright flight,” he calls it — in search of a more challenging high- school academic environment.

This year, the school introduced Project Lead the Way's biomedical sciences program, which is, like its engineering counterpart, a four-year program. Biomedical sciences teacher Rachel Rice took a twoweek training session last summer in order to teach the first course of the program.

She'll return for more training to prepare for the remaining three courses that the school will introduce year by year.

Rice,who taught at the high school before moving to the magnet school this year, said the magnet school is so far the only school in Connecticut to offer Project Lead the Way's biomedical sciences program.

“I really like being able to teach the specialty class,” Rice said. “... (T)he kids seem to really enjoy being in a class that they get to choose. And it's a really fun curriculum to teach, also.”

William Lawrence said he enjoys attending the magnet school and the challenge of the specialty science and technology classes. “It's a nice school. Everything is new,” he said. “More technology there than a regular high school.”

Allen said the school continues to work toward distinguishing its program from others. That means everything from adding new, unique classes with supplemental programs such as internships and after-school or weekend programs, to ensuring all his students feel welcome.

He has a “student contact” chart in the conference room adjacent to his office with a list of all the students' names. Allen conducted an exercise earlier this year in which the teachers had to initial every student they knew well enough outside the classroom to stop them for a conversation.

“If you can't put an initial by all these names, then somebody at the school is lost in the shuffle,” Allen said.

To build on the welcoming atmosphere, Allen adds another personal touch to his school: He sends out birthday cards to all of his students.

And he keeps pushing the school for more.

“Every year, I have to say to my staff, 'Where are we, and where do we need to be?'” Allen said. “... Every year, you have to reinvent yourself.”
Source: theday.com