PHS School of Inquiry launches website

By Lydia Beers
Pilot News Staff Writer

PLYMOUTH — The Plymouth School of Inquiry, a New Tech extension of Plymouth High School, will open next fall. To answer questions about the new school, PHS dean of students Ken Olson and directer of professional development Jennifer Felke launched a new website last Friday.

"We're pretty excited about it," said Olson. "We really want it to be the information portal over the next year on the School of Inquiry."

Parents as well as any interested individual may visit the website and view weekly or bi-weekly posts about the progress of the new school. Videos are posted with messages from Olson and other PHS staff. One new video shows the Plymouth School of Inquiry's recent visit to the Viking New Tech School in Huntington.

"We're going to use (the website) to get information out to the community about the school and about what's going on," said Olson, adding that the website includes videos and a frequently asked questions section, as well as a form that people can fill out to get more information about the school.

"Once the school starts next fall we hope the website will be an area where the community can see what type of projects that the students are participating in," said Felke.

Olson said that the School of Inquiry is still in the early planning stages. As teachers are hired and construction begins, the website will be updated more and more frequently. Eventually, it will include posts by students as well as pictures of the daily happenings in the new school. 

New Tech high schools use an approach called Project Based Learning, requiring students to learn by solving practical problems and making real-life decisions. The skills they learn through this method are intended to increase their job readiness after high school or better prepare them for college. The Plymouth School of Inquiry will open with an initial class of 100 freshman students, and expand each year.

Visit the School of Inquiry website at www.plymouth.k12.in.us/plymouth-school-of-inquiry.html.

Reprinted by permission of the Pilot News.