STEAM Ahead NH And The Gateway Project

 Manchester High School West is a comprehensive urban high school serving students in grades 9-12 in Manchester, NH.  Strong tradition in the theater arts, band, and choral/orchestra, a comprehensive NJROTC unit that is continually marked as a Distinguished Unit.  49.9% Free/Reduced lunch rate with over 39 different languages spoken amongst our student population.  Newly formed STEAM Ahead NH program to forge college and career pathways for students interested in Engineering, Performing Arts, Allied Health, and Computer Science.

 The STEAM Ahead NH Team consists of:  Christine Aspinwall - Science  Rachel Belmont – Social Studies  Daniel Colburn - Engineering  Robin Henkle – Mathematics  Sandy Ratliff – English  Program Manager – To Be Named

 Historically a very diverse school made up of both low socio- economic students as well as affluent students from a neighboring community.  Neighboring community built their own high school within the last decade.  Student enrollment of 1084 students (October 1, 2013)  49.9 % Free/Reduced lunch rate  6.5% Limited English Proficient  8.9% Black  13.2% Hispanic  5.8% Asian We have large populations of refugees, including many students from Nepal, Bhutan, Iraq, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Bosnia. In total, our student population includes over 32 different languages other than English as a home language.

 West offers Information and Communication Technology (ICT) which meets the state graduation requirement for computers.  Additional Courses in Technology and Engineering:  Video production  Computer Animation  Drafting  Engineering Drawing  Web Design  Principles of Engineering **The District offers Advanced Placement courses in computer science as well as other advanced courses in technical education, but West does not currently run those courses. **The District also has a School of Technology that offers a variety of courses in Computer Science and Engineering.

 Currently, as a result of STEAM Ahead NH, we have been partnering with numerous high tech companies in the Manchester community as well as post secondary educational institutions.  Our college partners have been assisting us in aligning curriculum to increase rigor and expectations so that our students can receive dual enrollment (high school and college) credit.  Our community partners are working to create internship opportunities for our students so that learning can take place outside of the classroom and in a real world setting.  Community partners are also fundraising for one to one technology for STEAM Ahead students, and we are seeking money from a recent technology bond to update our Engineering Computer lab.  We recently re-outfitted all of the computer labs in the school.

 Historically, technology has not been supported by the District in terms of infrastructure, hardware, software, or professional development.  Many of these factors are changing, but we still need more professional development so that teachers can use technology to ENHANCE instruction, not simply supplement instruction.  We also need to change the mindset that computers and technology are scary, “never work when you want it to”, or does not result in student gains.

 1. To have teachers utilize technology on a regular basis to enhance instruction so that students see practical applications of technology that will be useful in both school and life.  2. To have teachers collaborate and create problem solving activities that promote critical thinking across the content areas.