Cleveland's MC2STEM High School at GE's Nela Park open and ready for business and education

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Cleveland, Ohio - Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Dr. Eugene T.W. Sanders and GE Lighting & Industrial President & CEO Michael B. Petras, Jr., announced today that the renovation of the MC2STEM High School facility on the GE Nela Park campus in East Cleveland is complete, and students have now moved in. To celebrate this unprecedented educational alliance among CMSD, GE, and the many corporations, philanthropic and community organizations that have provided vital support for this initiative, a grand opening celebration and press conference for invited guests will be held Fri., Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. at the school building,1975 Noble Road at Nela Park.

In recognition of this historic collaboration, Gov. Ted Strickland will deliver the keynote speech and will be joined by Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson and East Cleveland Mayor Eric J. Brewer, along with Sen. George V. Voinovich, U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge and other dignitaries.

"This will be an enormously exciting day for everyone at the district who has worked very hard over the past year to see this historic school come to fruition," said Dr. Sanders. He noted that the inaugural class of MC2STEM students will be on hand to provide tours of the new facility to the guests and media.

The CMSD-GE alliance began in August 2008 with the plan to launch a STEM school, focused on a curriculum rich in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, embedded on a corporate campus to give students exposure to a dynamic college-ready and real-world work environment and culture. The students are mentored by GE employees from a broad array of disciplines ranging from research, technology and engineering, to marketing, finance, global product management and human resources.

"Our employees have already invested many hours in tutoring the students this school year," said Petras. "We're anxious for the students to utilize their new classrooms at Nela Park so more of our employees can be involved and make an even bigger impact. We're excited about the potential that this innovative school has to offer the students, and we're pleased to be able to play such an important role in their education."

Local foundations and member companies from the Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP) contributed almost $3 million for the classroom renovations on the Nela Park campus. The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation and The Sherwick Fund provided major leadership support, and the Eaton Charitable Fund, Forest City Enterprises Charitable Foundation, Key Foundation and the Parker Hannifin Foundation also provided substantial capital contributions.

The GCP served as fiscal agent for these capital contributions and as the project manager of the construction phase. The GCP engaged Marous Brothers Construction as the design/build contractor and helped involve two Cleveland-based minority business enterprises (MBEs) as subcontractors. "This project exemplifies the kind of success that's achieved through innovative public-private partnerships focused on the important goal of creating a state-of-the-art education facility for Cleveland students," said GCP President and CEO Joe Roman.

In addition to the significant partner funding, MC2STEM is also the first school in Ohio to receive a grant from the Ohio H.B. 119 making the school and the Metropolitan Cleveland Consortium for STEM (Cleveland's Hub of regional partners) the early adopters of Battelle's Ohio STEM Learning Network (OSLN). The OSLN is a model organization that captures network collaboration tools from the STEM fields and facilitates school district access to these resources to help districts retool education across the state.

Sonya Pryor-Jones, the local executive director for the Cleveland Hub, said, "This school is a fine example of what all of our students deserve and what a community can make possible for them when we harness our thinking, energy, and resources. Today we are showing the nation what is possible for the future of education in this country."

The renovation, which began in September 2008, includes a state-of-the-art "Fab Lab" modeled on the concepts of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. The Fab Lab promotes activities that range from technological empowerment, to peer-to-peer project-based technical training, local problem solving, small-scale high-tech business incubation, and grass-roots research. MC2STEM at Nela Park is one of only two Fab Labs in northern Ohio, and it was funded with a $100,000 grant from the Thomas H. White Foundation.

Dr. Leigh McGuigan, executive director of the Office of New and Innovative Schools at CMSD, said, "The school's innovative curriculum, year-round calendar and access to early-college classes in the senior year will help ensure MC2STEM will graduate students ready to meet the demands of college in order to thrive in the 21st century work force."

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