The Schools

I am an avid Oprah fan and coincidentally all three schools I chose I first saw on her show.

KIPP: Aspire Academy
The first school I will be visiting in San Antonio, TX is called KIPP: Aspire Academy. KIPP stands for Knowledge Is Power Program and was founded by two entrepenurs who had finished serving for Teach for America and thought they could do a better job educating the nation's youth. They first started a school in Houston, TX and now there are 57 KIPP schools in 16 states. KIPP helps underprivileged students get on the path to college. 80% of KIPP's students are from low income families and 90% are African American or Latino. KIPP has proven successful due to its long school days and no shortcut mentality.
You can view the KIPP: Aspire Academy website at http://www.aspireacademy.org/

High Tech High
The second school I will be visiting in San Diego, CA is called High Tech High (HTH). HTH was started in September 2000 by Gary Jacobs. There were a few dozen high tech industry leaders who felt there were not enough qualified new employees. They were especially concerned about the low numbers of women and minority groups being represented in the high tech work force. HTH's mission statement is "to develop and support innovative public schools where all students develop the academic, workplace, and citizenship skills for postsecondary success." HTH has grow to now include three high schools, two middle schools, and one elementary school. HTH's students learn through group and individual projects and experiements. Unlike the typical classroom, HTH students do not sit listening to lectures and reading textbooks. Instead they are active and involved in their learning.
You can view the High Tech High website at http://www.hightechhigh.org/

Young Women's Leadership Charter School
The last school I will be visiting is in Chicago, IL and called Young Women's Leadership Charter School. YWLCS became the first all-girls school in Chicago in 1999. YWLCS offers girls a college perparatory education that emphasizes math, science, and technology. The founders created an all-girls school to prevent the disengagment of math, science, and technology which is experienced in a coed location. YWLCS's students benefit from teaching styles and projects that are designed for female success. YWLCS's four major priorities are academic achievement, career and college perparation, leadership, and personal and social development. YWLCS educates the whole women offering classes in the humanities, arts, and health and fitness.
You can view the Young Women's Leadership Charter School at http://ywlcs.org/index.html

The Idea

It all started in the Spring of 2006. I came to college with a semester's amount of credits because my high school offered many AP courses that could be taken for college credit. I began asking my professors if I could graduate early since I was a semester ahead, but they made it clear that graduating early would be a near impossible feat. My major, math education, isn't the most popular major Hastings offers so they can get by offering classes only one semester every other year. I would have had to take my senior math class my sophomore year and my advisor strongly discouraged it.
Since I could not graduate early, I began searching for an exciting opportunity to gain experience. I knew there was an opportunity to study abroad, so I thought I could study around the country. I had always felt that after graduating from Hastings College I would have had experience with one type of school, Hastings Public. I knew there were other options in education and I wanted to experience them. After formulating the idea the next step was to find the schools and to pitch my idea to Hastings College.