With a generous grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Coalition of Essential Schools has launched a five-year initiative to create the following:
A network of 24 CES Mentor High Schools, actively engaged in helping to support the creation of new small schools,
Fourteen new CES high schools, with four opening in the Fall of 2008
Two large high schools converted into eight new CES small schools,
CES ChangeLab, an online resource that provides behind-the-scenes access to the best practices of the CES Mentor Schools,
A "Mentor Schools Guide," documenting the school-to-school mentoring approach,
A strengthened network of CES Centers with the capacity to assist in the creation and re-configuration of new small high schools.
Mentor Schools
The following schools became Mentor Schools in 2007:
Greenville Technical Charter High School (Greenville, SC)
International School of the Americas (San Antonio, TX)
Middle College High School (Memphis, TN)
In addition, two new “Emerging Mentor” schools have been named. These schools will have access to all the professional development through the small schools network this year, and it is anticipated that they will become Mentor Schools in the Fall of 2008:
June Jordan School for Equity (San Francisco, CA)
South Valley Academy (Albuquerque, NM)
New and Conversion Schools
In the Fall of 2006, the following new schools opened:
Connections Public Charter School (Hilo, HI),
River City School of Leadership (Memphis, TN),
Metro High School (Columbus, OH),
The Renaissance School at Olympic (Charlotte, NC)
School of Biotechnology, Health, and Public Administration at Olympic (Charlotte, NC),
School of International Business and Communication Studies at Olympic (Charlotte, NC),
School of International Studies and Global Economics at Olympic (Charlotte, NC),
School of Math, Engineering, Technology, and Science at Olympic (Charlotte, NC)
In the Fall of 2007, the following new schools opened:
ARISE High School (Oakland, CA)
Civitas School of Leadership (Los Angeles, CA)
Gotham Professional Arts Academy (New York, NY)
In the Fall of 2008, the following new schools will open:
Bayview Essential School of Music, Art and Social Justice (San Francisco, CA)
Capital City Upper Public Charter School (Washington, DC)
Global Neighborhood Secondary School (Floral Park, NY)
Native American Community Academy (Albuquerque, NM)