201 S. Market St.
San Jose, CA 95113
1-408-294-8324
thetech.org
Is My School Ready to Become a Tech Academy?
The Tech Academies of Innovation involves a large commitment by participating team members and
schools. Here we outline what you need to have in place to form an applicant team and provide
guidance on submitting a strong application.
Applicant schools must meet the eligibility requirements outlined in the eligibility section of The
Tech Academies website.
Applicant core teams must be comprised of:
●
At least three formal educators (two-plus years’ teaching experience preferred) of grades 4-8
who are committed to staying with their grades and school through the end of the threeyear partnership.
Note: One of these members can be a teacher on special assignment or instructional coach.
●
At least one after-school site leader (site director or coordinator preferred) serving at least
20 grade 4-8 students who attend the applicant school. This after-school program must
devote at least one hour per week to engineering Design Challenge Learning.
This core team must be supported by:
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The school principal.
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After-school program leadership (a supervisor to the site coordinator/director who works at
the organization level, e.g. program manager/director, grant manager, principal or district
administrator).
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The school district superintendent.
All core team members are committed to:
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Attend four three-hour Community of Practice meetings during the school year. Stipends or
substitute funds provided.
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Try out engineering lessons with students between meetings.
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Bring work samples, questions and best practices to meetings.
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Administer pre/post surveys with students and complete all educator pre/post and
Community of Practice surveys.
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Support at least one student team to participate in The Tech Challenge.
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Attend the program’s two-week Summer Institute during the last two weeks in July of the
second year, during which members will co-develop cross-curricular CCSS/NGSS-aligned
engineering lessons. $1,000 individual stipends provided.
●
Co-facilitate one Community of Practice meeting based on the lesson developed.
201 S. Market St.
San Jose, CA 95113
1-408-294-8324
thetech.org
Principals and after-school program supervisors are committed to:
●
Remain at the school site for the duration of the three-year partnership.
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Attend the first and last Community of Practice meeting of each year.
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Attend at least two additional leadership Community of Practice meetings designed to
facilitate the strategic planning and coordination of systems and pathways that will support
sustained, interconnected engineering education beyond the three-year partnership.
●
Attend the hour-long Summer Institute Showcase in July of the second year of the
partnership.
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Identify a specific time on their school or program’s schedule for all participating educators
to teach engineering.
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Ensure that participating educators receive stipends/substitutes/budget support for handson materials and for transportation to The Tech.
●
Provide opportunities for participating educators to offer professional development to other
members of the school, after-school organization and district on engineering education.
Strengthen your application by:
●
Selecting a teacher on special assignment or instructional coach as one of your team
members to help spread this work to others in your school or district.
●
Including up to three additional educators for a maximum total of seven team members
who will all enjoy more than 36 hours of high-quality professional development for free.
Note: Stipends will not increase for additional team members, and Summer Institute attendance
is capped at five total members per school site.
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Choosing an after-school program partner that is ASES or 21st Century-funded.
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Recruiting a feeder school to/from an existing Tech Academy, to intentionally create
engineering pathways for students.
Note: The maximum number of Tech Academies in a single school district is three.