Letter from Mr. Scott, HTEC’s New Principal

July 21, 2014

Dear HTEC family,

I am honored and excited to have been appointed as the new Principal of High Tech Early College.  It is with great pride and humility that I accept this tremendous responsibility and important opportunity.  Over the last few years the city of Denver and the HTEC community have made recognizable gains in education and innovation.  During the 2011-12 school year, HTEC achieved the highest academic growth of all DPS high schools and during the fall of 2012, sophomores received 21 executive internships with local community businesses.  These early successes demonstrate our students’ academic potential and the tireless dedication of our teachers, staff, parents and community.

As an urban educator of 15 years, I am committed to educational equity, school improvement and change.  I began my professional career as a high school social studies teacher with Atlanta Public Schools in Atlanta, Georgia.  In addition to my responsibilities as a social studies teacher, I coached basketball and advised several students’ clubs, including the Student Government Association, which provided voice and leadership for the nearly 2300 students.  I was later promoted to Assistant Principal at the New Schools at Carver, a 1500 student complex serving four small schools.  As Assistant Principal, I was influential in the early transformational work, which included phasing out Carver Comprehensive High School, a traditionally low performing school, and replacing it with four high performing small theme-based high schools. This new model, which adopted a rigorous, personalized and interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning, improved the graduation rate from 32% to 89%.  Among the four theme-based schools was Carver Early College, the first early college high school in the State of Georgia.

I earned both my bachelor and master’s degrees from Clark Atlanta University, my Educational Leadership Certification from Kennesaw State University and my Educational Specialist Degree from Georgia State University.  Additionally, I completed the Superintendent’s Academy for Building Leaders in Education (SABLE) Program, a rigorous and highly competitive two-year program designed to prepare administrators and aspiring administrators for positions as principals and district leaders.

In my most recent assignment, I served as Principal of South Atlanta High School of Computer Animation and Design for three years.  During my tenure, we demonstrated three consecutive years of student growth in every measureable category.  We expanded our breadth of Advanced Placement offerings and provided AP opportunities to all students consequently recognized by College Board & Georgia Department of Education as AP Honors School 2014 (Access & Support).  We produced two Gates Millennium Scholars in 2 years and enrolled our first high school student full-time in college.

It is my core belief that all children can learn at high levels, and that all children have the fundamental right to a good education, thereby access to a better quality of life, a higher standard of living and an opportunity to compete in a global society.

At HTEC, we are committed to collaboratively and purposefully preparing all students for post-secondary options and ensuring each student is college and career ready upon exit.  To this effect, we will create a safe and inclusive learning environment where we recognize and celebrate diversity and address the diverse needs of each learner.  We will foster rigorous and personalized educational experiences intentionally designed for each child.  As we continue to improve our early college program, executive internships and career pathways, we will offer an interdisciplinary and standards-based approach to teaching and learning.  Through project based learning opportunities, personalized advisory programs, peer-mentorships, and interests based school clubs every student will explore their interests, build strong relationships with peers and caring adults and become involved in and connect to the school community.

Originally from Cleveland Heights, OH, I currently reside in the city of Denver with my wife of 11 years, Julie and our son Anderson.  We look forward to earning your trust and respect, as we work together toward a productive school year.

Thank you,

Jarod M. Scott, Ed.S