Ann Arbor's Stone High School will become Ann Arbor Technological High School next fall
Stone High School will become Ann Arbor Technological High School, or Ann Arbor Tech at the beginning of the next school year.
The Ann Arbor school board voted unanimously Wednesday to make the name change.
Principal Sheila Brown said the change is another step in the reimaging of the school. The school will change its colors next year to black and gold and the mascot will become the Knights.
“The staff is excited about the name change, whether it was technical or technological or tech,” Brown said. “There’s a lot of support from staff and a lot from parents; they’ve been very supportive as well.”
The name change has been in the works for more than a year as students and staff at the school work to improve its image. Brown said she believes the new name will give a better sense of the type of work that goes on at the school, much of which involves technology.
Stone is a leader in the district using the E2020 credit recovery system and houses the Widening Advancement for Youth (WAY) program’s Washtenaw County Cyber School.
Brown first presented the new name to the school board on Jan. 26 and described the process Stone School is going through to adjust its image in the community. She said she and other district officials had been making trips to other alternative high schools around the state to get ideas to bring back to Ann Arbor.
Trustee Christine Stead praised Brown's efforts to include the student body in the name-change process.
“You did an excellent job,” she said. “The process you went through to present a new name and you did a lot of work on that — the whole community did.”
Students at Stone School can submit graphic designs for the new mascot of the school by March 4.
The next step in the reimaging process will be an unveiling of the new name at a ceremony at a later date. Brown said the school’s Principal Advisory Team is organizing a rollout with a band, food and other pageantry.
In addition to helping Brown make decisions at the school and helping plan the ceremony, the advisory team is also helping clean up the area around the school.
“We’re letting our neighbors know we’re sincere,” she said. “The advisory team will step up and make our neighbors proud of Stone School.”
Board president Deb Mexicotte said she appreciated Brown's going back to her staff and students to discuss changing the name from the originally planned Ann Arbor Technical High School to Technological. She said she is glad the school community supported the change in name.
“What’s important is the work that’s been done to bring this movement together,” Mexicotte said. “All of these things are so fantastic around this effort.”
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com.
Comments
krc
Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 4:59 p.m.
@aamom, at least those kids are in school! I for one commend them. They aren't forced to go there. They go of their own free will which says good things about their characters. Two of mine graduated from there. One has a Master's degree and got it while expecting and then caring for twins. She is now going for her 2nd masters. My son is a general manager at an Outback in Indiana. He has been sent all over the US and overseas to manage failing stores and bring them back up to par. By the time this happens, the employees love him and don't want to see him go. My kids aren't losers. These kids aren't either.
aamom
Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 5:13 p.m.
@krc I didn't mean to imply that the kids who go there are losers. I meant that we all control the image we project by our behavior. Having large groups of kids smoking along the roadway seems to just give credence to the "stoner" reputation. If the kids are unhappy with this reputation, they might want to first ask the kids smoking on the sidewalks if they might please stand behind the building. Otherwise the label will just become associated with a new school name. Kudos to you and Stone High for raising successful children!
DonBee
Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 12:39 a.m.
New signs, new logos, new drapes, new paint, new graphics ... I guess the school board has plenty of money to spend. Goes with the new salary for the new Superintendent.
Donald
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 7:44 p.m.
I've yet to see a curriculum at a "Tech" school that is worth it. If you want our kids to be successful in college and beyond, particularly in so called "technical" fields, they need the kind of BASIC sciences and maths that aren't required any more: 6-8 math credits, 2 years each biology and chemistry and physics minimum. Don't let them use calculators or computers for any of it until they're juniors. Before anyone accuses be of being a senior citizen telling kids to get off my lawn, I just had My 10 year HS class reunion. Our kids fail in college and careers because they have lots of knowledge and skills with no foundational learning to support it.
owlnight
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 7:08 p.m.
When was the Stone School made. It has named for the road, too made they did'nt name it Smith.I think if you need a new name I think East Community would be closer to what they are trying to have for the students.
Snehal
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 6:57 p.m.
I am changing my name to George Washington. Hope that helps improve my image!
aamom
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 6:50 p.m.
Drive by the school around 11:30 and see all the kids smoking along the street. No name change will change your reputation. Only your behavior can do that.
Klayton
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 6:49 p.m.
I am pretty excited about the option for our students to attend a technology-based high school. I hope they live up to their name so that when my kids are old enough to attend, they want to go to the awesome "high tech" school. Technology is ubiquitous in society and the workforce...when are our traditional teachers going to put away the overhead projectors and start Skyping, going mobile and virtual with learning? I am very hopeful for this name change and hopefully a powerful technology-enhanced curricula!
Concerned...
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 6:39 p.m.
SallyXYZ...your post are always negative. These are kids your talking about. Its not that the kids can't 'cut it', its the tradiational schools aren't working for all students. The staff at this school is amazing. Without Stone (or AA Tech School) I would have been part of the 25% of kids who drop out and doing who knows what with my life. The teachers at Stone where the first teachers in years who actually believed I had potential instead of just writing me off. They work with each and every student to challange and motative them to learn. The kids are getting a better education here then would at Huron or Pioneer. At Huron or Pioneer these kids would most likely be lost in crowd and ignored. I think its great that Stone is changing thier name....Thanks for the teachers and staff for making this school what it is!!
Snehal
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 6:36 p.m.
Will they rename Stone School Rd to Ann Arbor Technological High School Rd? How long will it take to speak this name of the road!
r treat
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 5:06 p.m.
Tip... allow your students to smoke in your parking lot instead of our driveways.
YouWhine
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 5:01 p.m.
Would it be asking too much of the reporter to include just waht "technilogical", "technical", or "tech" education goes on at the school? Is there actually anything TO the new name? Stone is probably trying to rebrand in order to get away from its perception (deserved, or not) as being a haven for dropouts, criminals, and those who have been turned away from the other schools. It would be nice to be able to learn what types of programs actually are taught, if there IS a tech element to the school, how and why a student becomes enrolled in the school, etc. Instead we get several paragraphs of Brown, Mexicotte, and Stead going on and on about what a great job Brown did coming up with a (fairly uncreative) name for the school. Hopefully, for the sake of the school, its students and the community at large the rebranding can help.
YouWhine
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 5:36 p.m.
Mr. Feldscer, Thanks for the response. I didn't see the link to the previous story the first time I read your story. However, I would still say that "Stone is a leader in the district using the E2020 credit recovery system and houses the Widening Advancement for Youth (WAY) program's Washtenaw County Cyber School." seems to be the only reference you make in either story about what SPECIFICALLY goes on there and unless you already KNEW what E2020 or WAY were this sentence would not mean a whole lot. I guess I was saying that it would be interesting to read about what technological skills students are learning. Does cyber school mean they are going to school online or that they are learning to work in the IT field? Thanks again for the response.
Kyle Feldscher
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 5:13 p.m.
In the story I did mention a few new programs which are heavily reliant on technology, like the E2020 program for credit recovery and the WAY program's Washtenaw County Cyber School. In an effort to not rehash much of what I wrote in the previous story about Stone's name change, many of the details I included in that story were left out of this one in an effort to not repeat myself. Here is the link to that story: <a href="http://bit.ly/eHDvRB" rel='nofollow'>http://bit.ly/eHDvRB</a>. Here is another story I wrote earlier in the year with a little more background on all of the three alternative high schools in Ann Arbor schools: <a href="http://bit.ly/afChFb" rel='nofollow'>http://bit.ly/afChFb</a>
JustJ
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 4:14 p.m.
The students at Stone have been known as "Stone School Stoners". I believe that's the reason for the name change. I personally know a few kids, including my son(I enrolled him in Jan.) who attend this school and they are not "stoners"...just kids who need a smaller environment in order to focus and to get the extra support they may need to become productive citizens. The school has provides daycare for teenage mothers with children. Not the world I grew up in, but if it helps these students to do better, then I'm all for it.
Mary Bilyeu
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 4:09 p.m.
Stone is not a school for those who can't "cut it" elsewhere; it's a school which provides support and educational opportunities to students who have had difficulties at other schools and who need a different, smaller, more personalized learning environment. The staff is exceptional beyond my usually verbose abilities to praise them! Students are encouraged constantly, and high expectations are set for them by people who believe in and support their abilities. I don't know if the enrollment process is the same as it was a few years ago, but a student needed to apply, meet with staff, and actually be accepted into the program rather than merely choosing it as a potentially easier track than the more traditional schools. If the name change helps to empower the students and make them feel more invested in their school, then that's far more than mere marketing ....
PBQUEEN
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 4:06 p.m.
@Sallyxyz - saying that Stone School is for "students who can't cut it at Pioneer, Huron and Skyline" shows a great deal of bias. Sometimes attending a large high school (Pioneer - 2,400 students, Huron - 2,000 students, Skyline - 1,200 students) is not the ideal setting for education to take place. In fact, some would argue that large high schools do a disservice to students, as evidenced by our abysmal graduation rate (Ann Arbor - 87%; Ypsilanti - 60%; Michigan - 75%). To generalize that a smaller, alternative high school is for those who cannot "cut it" at the other three high schools is disrespectful to both students and staff. Your email implies that you are not award of the current curriculum, so perhaps a bit of self-education would have been the first step here.
Tony Livingston
Sun, Feb 13, 2011 : 11:20 p.m.
Stone is a very expensive school for students that need a lot of personal attention. Actually, personal attention is great for every student. But most students have to pay to get it at a private school. Many of us are totally put off by this snow job.
Sallyxyz
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 3:47 p.m.
Stone School is an alternative high school for students who can't cut it at Pioneer, Huron and Skyline. I'm not sure of the process for enrolling there, but more details are needed, as well as a clear explanation of the type of students enrolled, how they enrolled, and what the curriculum is about. Will the curriculum change under the new name? Simply changing the name, school colors and mascot does not change the curriculum or the type of students enrolled. Seems to me at this point that this is purely a cosmetic change unless more details are provided. Why did they think they needed to "reimage" this high school? What is the present image and how do they think the new name will change the image? What "image" are they trying to create?
ArthGuinness
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 3:18 p.m.
It's not clear to me why every comment is negative. I've been around Ann Arbor for years but never heard of Stone School. The name change may seem like just form before function, but it has brought attention to this school. So it actually seems like good marketing to me. Of course, some people don't understand the concept of marketing (see above).
Tony Livingston
Sun, Feb 13, 2011 : 11:17 p.m.
If you haven't heard of this school, then you haven't followed the news about schools. This is one of the $23,000 per student schools that AAPS supports. It is a very expensive school for kids that are not succeeding elsewhere. The reason people are making negative comments is because the name change is designed to make people think this is some kind of exclusive and sophisticated high school that is focused on technology. Because a school used technology does not make it a technological school. This is a school that certain students are funneled into via principals and guidance counselors.
demistify
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 2:36 p.m.
The label used to be "vocational".
xmo
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 2:28 p.m.
I was surprise with the name, it's so bourgeois. I figured that the new name would be the "Wokers Paridise School" the colors would be Red and Gold and the macot would be "Carl Marx"
Brad
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 12:40 p.m.
@yohan - Please give them a little credit. Did you not notice that looking for a new mascot as well? I guess that's it for Towelie.
yohan
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 11:52 a.m.
Yes, this is what we have come to expect from AAPS, All pomp and fluff and NO substance. Change the name, change the colors, strike up the band!. And not one word about the curriculum. What technologies are they intending to teach? Smoke and mirrors? When are the AAPS administrators going to realize that people don't like to deceived?
Barb
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 2:11 p.m.
Really? Apparently you need to do some homework about this school - oh, the irony! I think the name change makes a lot of sense. <a href="http://www.a2stone.org/stone.home/home" rel='nofollow'>http://www.a2stone.org/stone.home/home</a>