High Tech Los Angeles, or HTLA is an American charter

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

located in Lake Balboa, CA, in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

. It is located on the site of

Birmingham High School Birmingham Community Charter High School (formerly Birmingham High School) is a charter coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was fo ...

, but it has its own separate buildings.

History

High Tech LA was conceived in 2002 by entrepreneur Roberta Weintraub as a school to prepare students for the 21st century. It was modeled after the successful chain of High Tech High schools, being formerly called High Tech High Los Angeles. It opened in 2002 and became the nation's first charter high school operating from the campus of another public school, Birmingham High. By 2004 more permanent buildings had been built. The school was accredited by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing School accreditation, accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary school, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, ...

and it 2007 was named a California Distinguished High School. In 2013, it was named the best charter high school in all of California by the USC School Performance Dashboard. In December 2017, High Tech LA's charter was renewed by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board for another five years. It received a second California Distinguished High School designation in 2019.

Education

The school is small with nearly 400 students enrolled as of the 2016-2017 school year. The school targets low income families, with 50% of students on the Federal Free/Reduced lunch program. 53% of students who go to college from HTLA will be first in their families to attend college. Latinos make up 33% of the population. The HTLA curriculum is based around getting into college. All students will complete the University of California/California State University "A-G" requirements to apply to one of the colleges in those college systems. All students must take one semester of internship with a professional. Technology is also central at the school, with each student getting their own personal school laptop/netbook.

References

{{authority control High schools in the San Fernando Valley Charter high schools in California Public high schools in Los Angeles Van Nuys, Los Angeles High Tech High charter schools 2002 establishments in California Educational institutions established in 2002