Vancouver iTech Preparatory is among seven schools to receive the state’s Innovative Schools designation for 2016.
The other schools in the state to receive the distinction are in the Central Kitsap, East Valley, Eatonville and Toppenish school districts. The Innovative School designees will be recognized at an awards ceremony May 10 at Union Gap School in Yakima County.
Schools that applied for the Innovative Schools designation were selected based on level of creativity and experimentation; incorporation of best practices and research; increase in student achievement and/or closing achievement gaps; collaboration with parents and the community and high staff morale and engagement. To be eligible, schools also had to meet the 95 percent participation rate on state tests.
“I was excited, but not surprised,” said Vancouver iTech Preparatory Principal Christina Iremonger about the designation. “We’re very creative in how we structure our programs to be innovative. That innovative process isn’t just for our students. My teachers are always thinking about what’s next. Our teachers look at the curriculum, the standards, and they create projects. We’re an innovative school because we want to think differently.”
Opportunities to ‘shine’
Iremonger listed some of the creative projects her students have undertaken this school year:
• Explored the possibility of time travel and persuaded the school community about the reasonableness and ethical issues of time travel. Students participated in a Time Travel Symposium as scientists sharing their claims regarding time travel.
• Created a 360-degree virtual reality tour of Fort Vancouver developed in partnership with a National Park Service curator, historians and archaeologists at the fort.
• Built computer apps to meet specific needs of people in the community.
• Created documentaries about how Mount St. Helens and its eruptions impacted Washington, the Pacific Northwest and the world. Students conducted research and interviewed scientists, authors, artists and others.
• Installed an exhibit on the Washington State University Vancouver campus to provide a broader perspective on how science’s development has involved many cultures and people. The exhibit addressed how Islamic science during the Middle Ages provided the foundation for the European scientific revolution that followed it.
• Practiced art forgery by learning about art history and mimicking techniques of other artists.
“Kids are so capable. Sometimes we don’t value their capabilities,” Iremonger said. “At iTech, we want our kids to shine. When you give students something they can engage in, they go way beyond our expectations, which makes it so much fun.”
Washington’s Innovative Schools program began in 2011. The other Southwest Washington schools identified as Innovative Schools over the years are Sarah J. Anderson Elementary School (2012) and Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (1997). Like iTech Preparatory, these two schools also are in the Vancouver Public Schools district.
Vancouver iTech Preparatory serves students in grades six through 12. Its middle school program is at the Jim Parsley Center. The high school program is in the Clark College Building at WSU Vancouver.
