On April 19, 2011, the Plano ISD Board of Trustees approved the purchase of a facility to house the new Plano ISD Academy which is based on project/problem-based instruction within a science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics context. This facility is a three-story office building located between Columbia Place and Alma (see map below) which was previously used by a major telecommunications company as their local Internet services network operations center. This initial academy will provide easy access for students throughout the district. The facility features large, open areas particularly amenable to PBL instructional delivery. It is anticipated that major corporate partners will also have space for an ongoing presence in the facility.
Development of grades 9 and 10 course curricula will begin this summer 2012 and will continue through early August of 2013. Initial work in the summer of 2012 will be professional development focused on a deep understanding of PBL pedagogy and on the interdisciplinary curriculum development process. Course curricula for grades 9 and 10 courses will emerge throughout the 2012-13 school year culminating in August 2013. Course curricula and initial professional development will be completed for an August 2013 launch of the academy with 9th and 10th grade students. Subsequent curricula and students would be added a year at a time with the first graduating class in 2015-16.
For more information regarding the new academy that will become our newest neighbor, please check out the Plano ISD information sheet provided by the district. More information will be available to the neighborhood as the school district makes it available to the PCNHA board. Any new information will be posted here on the web site, sent out through emails as well as posted on neighborhood social media.