Location selected for USC Hybrid High
USC Hybrid High School is scheduled to open in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 4 at its newly secured site at 350 S. Figueroa St.
Developed by the USC Rossier School of Education, Hybrid High redefines traditional notions of education by blending personalized instruction with digital coursework. The innovative charter school, which will be accessible by public transit, currently is recruiting ninth-grade students for the fall semester by holding informational meetings on the University Park campus.
According to “Closing the Graduation Gap,” a 2009 report in Education Week, the average high school dropout rate in urban centers across the nation is nearly 50 percent. One-third of the students drop out reportedly because of jobs or caring for family members. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, 56 percent of ninth-graders finish high school in four years, a percentage that is much lower in the neighborhoods served by Hybrid High.
“Hybrid High School will fill a vital need for a rigorous educational program tailored to students’ needs and ensuring that more of our students are finishing high school,” said principal Stephanie McClay. “I’m excited to begin to our work with students and families.”
Development of the school’s new 19,000-square-foot site will take place this summer, with plans for four large learning labs, two project rooms, an administrative suite, a series of “huddle rooms” for small student groups and a courtyard.
Hybrid High, which aims to help students in conventional academic settings, will offer year-round access up to 12 hours per day, seven days a week for students who care for family members, work full or part-time jobs or who need additional time to improve their skills and master course work.
Students will receive personalized schedules and learning plans as part of an academic curriculum that will integrate project-based learning. The school’s extensive use of technology is expected to prepare each student to use digital tools of the 21st century.
The school has an ambitious goal of graduating 100 percent of its students, making them socially and academically prepared for success in college or the workplace. It is expected to serve 150 ninth-graders in its first year, with plans to increase its student body to 650 students in grades 9 to 12 in four years.
USC faculty and staff and USC neighborhood families with children entering the ninth grade are encouraged to attend one of the orientation sessions to be held in Waite Phillips Hall 403 at 5:30 p.m. on May 29, June 12, June 26, July 10 and July 24.
For more information, call (213) 740-6958 or visit uschybridhigh.org/
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