Advantages for Morse High School

Morse, as an institution, stands to gain from the SEPA grant in many ways. The SEPA (Science Education Partnership Award) has the potential to further the restructuring goals for Morse in addition to providing new equipment, personnel and prestige. What follows is a partial list of potential advantages to the SEPA Grant. The SEPA program should serve as a viable model for the implementation of a career strand and thus reinvigorate the development of other career strands.

• The program has been conceived and will be implemented by teachers and thus represents a true grass roots effort at reform. Other teachers may be inspired and thus attempt or at least accept change.
• If organized to its potential, the program will demonstrate the educational power and advantages to a block schedule, a family or school within a school system, and how this structure can further the goals of a senior exhibition, senior portfolio, teacher as advisor, and infusion of technology within the curriculum. Including the community in this program will allow the school to evolve as the leader and focus of the community. In addition, it will demonstrate the advantages of partnerships with other institutions and businesses within the community.
• The program could start the true implementation of interest based education. It will attract students according to their interests and it will attract teachers that are open or willing to change teaching methodologies. This should have a long range impact on student achievement throughout the school.
• It will add to the public perception of the school and the ability of Morse to attract other monies, assistance and grants.
• This grant will allow for a complete 38 station Mac Lab with on-line capacity for each station. Thus any teacher could bring any class to use this facility and all students would have the full amount of time available on line. This grant will also provide personnel to maintain the network, keep the computers going, oversee the lab, and assist teachers and students with their projects thus raising the general level of technological experience and expertise within the school.
• This grant will also allow for the upgrading of some of the computers within the science department thus allowing 2 rooms to act as mini-labs with 8 computer stations, each with an internet connection. This is sufficient for cooperative learning and group activities and will increase technological skills due to greater availability. These mini-lab rooms are available to other teachers on a trade out basis.

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Page created Fall 1998 by Bart Hays, Morse High School, San Diego, Ca.