Info

TechBoston was established in 1998 through grant funding from the Massachusetts Department of Education's initiative called Students as Technology Leaders (SaTL). Ann Grady, former BPS Director of Office of Instructional Technology, and Kathleen Mullin, former director of BPS School to Career (now High School Renewal) advocated for establishing TechBoston as a separate department to enable the BPS to focus on offering high-level technology courses. Mary Skipper was the founding director of the TechBoston. Felicia Vargas, former Assistant Director of TechBoston who joined the staff in 1998, was named Acting Director in Fall 2004. TechBoston has provided over 10,000 teacher hours of professional development and direct assistance to schools to implement courses educating more than 5,000 students in the following areas: Advanced Placement Computer Science, Web Development, Cisco Networking, Cisco IT Essentials, Microsoft Office Specialist, and Robotics. TechBoston is funded by the City of Boston School Department and actively seeks grants from local foundations and corporations to support various initiatives. Over the past six years, TechBoston has partnered on grant initiatives totaling over $6 million enabling TechBoston to continue to broaden and to deepen the technology curricular offerings. In 2002, the department launched an entrepreneurial division called TechBoston Consulting Group to employ talented technology students to handle web design and computer support technology projects under the supervision of experienced professionals. TechBoston Academy (TBA) is a technology-focused pilot high school that opened in 2002. The high school is under the leadership of former TechBoston director, Mary Skipper. The high school is a separate entity from TechBoston, however, TechBoston provides TBA teachers with professional development and connects TBA students with job placement opportunities. The TechBoston staff received the City Excellence Award for Innovations in Education in 2001 and the Boston Public Schools Service Excellence Award in 2002.