New kind of school offers special focus

The six new portable classrooms outside Federal Way's Totem Middle School in Kent might not look like anything unusual.

But inside there are laptops and interactive "smart boards," even a lunchroom.

The students, dressed in business casual attire, will attend smaller classes, and for a longer school day. The curriculum will specialize in science, math and technology.

And the funding — more than $1 million, or an additional $7,000 per student — comes from a private donor.

It's both a new school and a new kind of school.

Monday marks the first day of classes at the Technology Access Foundation (TAF) Academy, a hybrid of a public school with major private funding and direction. TAF, a Seattle nonprofit, worked with the Federal Way School District to create the school, with a principal, teaching staff, curriculum, facility, equipment, student uniforms and diplomas.

The organization, which Trish Dziko founded after leaving Microsoft in 1996, runs after-school technology programs for minority students in the Seattle area. The TAF Academy in Federal Way is its first venture into running a whole school.

In Seattle, students and parents fought its initial bid to open such a program at Rainier Beach High School. Opponents feared the program would "take over" their school, and accused the Seattle Public Schools of negotiating a deal with Dziko behind their backs.

TAF hopes the Federal Way academy will be the first of five schools across the region. The others won't get started until at least 2010, leaving two years to develop the pilot effort in Federal Way.

This year, the school will start with 128 students — two-thirds qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and half are minorities — in grades six, seven and nine. Eventually, the school's goal is to fill out all grades between six and 12.

The students are drawn from the same neighborhoods as Totem Middle School and Thomas Jefferson High School but had the option to enroll in TAF.

The academy promises a classroom experience different from those of its neighboring schools.

The nine teachers were trained by TAF and will be jointly employed by TAF and the Federal Way schools. So was their principal, Laura Davis-Brown, a former assistant principal at The New School and a former principal at T.T. Minor Elementary, both Seattle public schools.

Each class is limited to 25 students, modestly smaller than Totem's regular classes. TAF designed the curriculum, emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math.

The state dictates what a school has to teach, Dziko points out, but not how. The "how," she said, is where the TAF Academy will stand apart, relying on project-based, technology-supported learning. For example, rather than memorizing the parts of the body, students would simulate a medical clinic.

Such an alternative setting can be key to the students' success, Davis-Brown said.

"All kids can't flourish in a big high school," she said. "For Federal Way to offer additional options for kids is huge."

Federal Way schools spokeswoman Diane Turner said the district knows "one size does not fit all students," but TAF Academy can be a fit for some.

Though charter schools are not permitted in Washington state, Dziko said TAF Academy is a model that can work even better because it's closely linked with the school district.

And it's a model that she expects to expand. Dziko said she hopes to demonstrate success and boost TAF's appeal to school districts, many of which were initially less receptive than she had hoped.

"I hope Seattle is watching," she said.

Isaac Arnsdorf: 206-464-2397 or iarnsdorf@seattletimes.com