According to their website: "Metro High School’s mission is turning college aspirations into reality."
Educational Standards
Because of the nature of Metro, all credits are awarded using a mastery-based grading scale. Mastery is achieved by holding a 90% or higher on specific mastery assignments and tests, the entire course as an average, or every single assignment given in the course. Anything below mastery is called a WIP, or work-in-progress. Students not meeting the 90% benchmark in a mastery assignment are able to remediate and retake the assignment. Difficulties to do so depend on the teacher. In the case that the grade average does not meet the 90% benchmark and the student can no longer remediate mastery assignments, they are required to either remediate the course during J-Term or Summer School or retake the entire course the next semester. Grades of classes retaken replace the former grade, so when colleges look at student transcripts, they only see the most recent grade and do not know about the former WIP grade.
Basics
Metro Early College High School is a small learning community open to students in Ohio, run by Principal Anthony Alston. It is designed to serve students who want a learning experience that prepares them for the world through the belief that math, science, engineering and technology are vitally important. The Metro School is an experimental learning environment, so it can be challenging for the students, but students who have attended Metro seem to look better to colleges and have higher test scores than students at most alternative and public schools. The Metro High School is operated by the Educational Council, a confederation of the 16 public school districts in Franklin County. Students attending Metro are concurrently enrolled in their home district and remain a part of the public school system in Franklin County. This means that the students of Metro are able to participate in events at their home high school while still completing coursework at the Metro school. The Metro Institute of Technology is the sister school of MECHS. MIT was formed in 2015 as a technology focused STEM school, and as a way to host Metro's 5 year program. It shares campus with Franklin University on the upper and lower floor of Phillips Hall. MIT shares many of the same educational goals and procedures as MECHS, but is focused in the five year College Credit Plus program. As of 2016, this distinction was lost when MECHS implemented this same program into the main school. Both MECHS and MIT are also technology centric, making both schools extremely similar. Starting with the 2018-2019 school year, Metro received an Early College High School exemption from College Credit Plus, allowing for more flexibility and class options. Metro is currently in its fourteenth year of operation and has switched from a trimester academic schedule to what mostly resembles a 4-1-4 system with a J-Term.
The Metro Habits
The Metro Habits consist of six different skills vital to success in not only school, but life in general, as well. These habits are..
Metro currently enrolls 100 students as freshmen per year of operation, with a maximum total attendance of 400 students at any one time. Due to students from Metro Middle School transferring into the high school, Metro only enrolls about 30-60 new students a year.
Governance
The Educational Council operates Metro High School. The Educational Council Foundation manages the school’s finances. The Metro Partnership Group advises and assists the school staff on the program, school evaluation and research, professional development, funding and community relations. Seven members serve in the Metro Partnership Group, including three from Ohio State University, three from the Educational Council and one from Battelle. Metro’s principal and staff oversee the day-to-day operation of the school.
First Graduating Class
On June 12, 2010 the school celebrated the graduation of its first class of students. The first Junior & Senior Prom was held at Franklin Park Conservatory, a partner with Metro and a learning center for students to take botany and other classes not offered in the Metro building. The school's graduation was held at COSI Columbus, also one of learning centers for Metro. Dr. Gene Harris, Superintendent of Columbus City Schools gave a speech to the graduating class along with Mr. Rich Rosen, Vice President of Education & Philanthropy at Battelle. Dr. E. Gordon Gee gave a speech to the students as well to prepare them for the next years at college. A large majority of the graduating seniors will be attending The Ohio State University in the fall, and many others will be attending universities and colleges across the United States.
Funding
Metro High School has received significant support from Battelle, The Ohio State University and Coalition of Essential Schools National to design and open the school. Recurrent funding comes from districts whose students attend the school.
