Background
Metro Early College High School opened its doors six years ago with 96 freshmen representing the 15 school districts in Franklin County, Ohio. Today, Metro, still a lottery-based public STEM school, offers students an accelerated course load with problem-based real-world experiences. After students complete the Core coursework, they select a themed Learning Center that is taught by Metro teachers in conjunction with experts in that field. Here, students begin to explore college coursework, as well as participate in in-depth real-world challenges based on the theme of the center. In addition, each of Metro’s Learning Centers has been developed in partnership with and is housed within other city schools within Franklin County. The end goal, after two years, is for the Learning Center to become an embedded component of each partner school district in order to maximize the schools impact on the community.
Metro also provides students with other unique learning experiences such as internships, STEM competitions, and research. These experiences take full advantage of the community-based partnerships that have been developed over the past six years. Metro students are placed in university research laboratories, local businesses, or other public interest venues where they apply the skills, knowledge, and dispositions they have learned during their core coursework.
Metro’s partnership with The Ohio State University is supported in many ways. Students have access to an OSU academic advisor located in the school building. Additionally, there is a joint Metro/OSU committee that oversees the administrative process of the early college experience of all Metro programs including the learning centers.
Over the past six years, Metro students have taken advantage of the early college opportunities offered. For example, nearly 50% of Metro’s current enrollment has earned some college credits and many could be considered college sophomores. Additionally, two members of Metro’s first graduating class (class of 2010) will be graduating from The Ohio State University this June.
For More Information
Please see Metro’s website, www.themetroschool.org.
Or contact Principal Aimee Kennedy at kennedy@themetroschool.org or founding faculty member Andrew Bruening at bruening@themetroschool.org.
