Our press kit

Clarskville district proposes regional New Tech school

Clarksville Community Schools Superintendent Kim Knott is planning to open a New Tech high school, with its students learning primarily through group projects rather than in traditional classrooms, by fall 2013.

Her hope is to open the school in part of the Value City building off Eastern Boulevard, which the town is planning to buy, Knott said in a recent interview.

She is excited by the New Tech concept, Knott said, because “it creates a whole cultural difference” in how students learn.

By working on projects — carefully chosen by “facilitators,” as teachers are called in New Tech schools — that require mastery of state academic standards, the students take the inititative in learning and remain engaged, Knott said.

“There are no bells, few walls; kids collaborate in large groups,” Knott said. “And they’re excited about learning.”

The New Tech Network is based in Napa, Calif., and has 86 participating schools, including 18 in Indiana. There are no participating schools in Kentucky, according to the network website.