History
Early in 1991, Cal Poly Pomona made a decision to accept the invitation of LACOE to enter into a collaborative relationship for the purpose of joining the K-12 education reform movement initiated by A Nation at Risk.
The goal of the partnership was to:
(1) create a model of curriculum reform by designing and implementing an entire high school course of study using an interdisciplinary and international curriculum approach and
(2) better prepare students to enter either higher education or the world of work. The planning team consisted of forty-seven professionals representing LACOE, Cal Poly Pomona, and the local business community.
The original concept was described in the following manner: The model is project-based and experiential in nature. It is essentially student-centered and driven, and incorporates new technologies, as well as a new understanding of the kind of journey students and educators will take through a dynamic, global, 21st century landscape. The basic components consists of progressive educational principles, global perspectives and analysis, and interdisciplinary study.
The school first accepted students in 1993, with a class of twelve freshmen, and graduated its first class of approximately 20 students in 1997, with a full graduating class in 1998. Originally, the campus was located in portables adjacent to the buildings of the College of Arts on the Cal Poly campus, but was later moved to the edge of the Cal Poly campus on Parking Lot K, also in portable structures. A new $20 million, state-of-the art, high school facility is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012 at the cross street of University Drive and Temple Avenue on the campus of Cal Poly.
In its early years, iPoly was a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, but its membership later lapsed. The original model divided the world into different projects concentrating on each project, but that was later dropped as transferring students' curriculum became too difficult. Originally, iPoly also participated in the California Interscholastic Federation with a basketball team, but that was later dropped and iPoly students have the opportunity to play high school athletics at their home schools teams. (There is currently only one student participating in this)
In addition, the original model was to have teachers from their home districts "rotate in" for a few years and then use the lessons learned from their teaching at their other schools. Due to the constant turnover, that was later de-emphasized and a smaller number of rotating teachers intermingle with teachers on long-term contract. Today, under the guidance of CEIS, iPoly is evolving into a teacher training and demonstration site. It is envisioned that iPoly will serve as a staff development hub for the surrounding school districts. However, it is not a charter school or a magnet school, nor does it have any formal relationship with the other districts.
Read more about this topic: International Polytechnic High School
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