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Ohio State and Nonprofit Organization

Ohio State and Nonprofit Organization
Backing New Math, Science School

COLUMBUS, Ohio
Columbus-based Battelle, a leader in science and technology research, and The Ohio State University are providing financial support for a new public high school where 400 students will focus on math and science, a newspaper reported last month.

Only students from the 16 public school districts in Franklin County will be eligible to attend the Metro School when it opens this fall.
Applicants will have to write a letter of interest and interview with staff, who will select candidates. The school districts, considering students’ abilities and diversity, then will decide who enrolls.

“We’re looking for a student who is motivated, wants to go to college, but needs a little extra help,” says Brad Mitchell, chief executive officer of the Educational Council, a consortium of the Franklin County school districts. “Every district has students like this, and a big, comprehensive high school can only do so much.”

Ohio State has donated $1.2 million for building leases and university faculty will be involved in training the yet-to-be-hired Metro School teachers in new instruction methods.

Battelle has donated more than $500,000 for startup costs. “By investing in this new school, we’re investing in the future of our community,” says Carl Kohrt, president and CEO of Battelle.

The school also will receive the state funding that would have gone to a student’s traditional public school, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Additional costs will be funded through grants and support from OSU and Battelle.

Education leaders believe schools need to produce more students skilled in science, technology, engineering and math because of the potential for jobs in the growing fields.

The school will serve ninth-graders in its first year and add a grade each of the next three years, with only 100 students admitted in each grade. Upperclassmen will be given opportunities to gain work and internship experience.

The school won’t have extracurricular activities such as sports, band or drama, but students will be allowed to participate at their home school. Openings will be allotted to each Franklin County district based on size, with larger districts sending more students to the Metro School.

— Associated Press



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