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After four years of planning, Atlanta's newest public charter school, Tech High, will start classes in August.
Tech High, a tuition-free school with a heavy focus on math, technology and science, is moving into SciTrek downtown.
The school will have 150 students in the first year, leading up to more than 800 by the fifth year, organizers say.
SciTrek, a hands-on science museum for young people, will lease about 17,000 square feet to the school the first year. By the third year, as the student population increases, nearly 50,000 square feet will be available, said SciTrek CEO Scott Coleman.
The Georgia Public Policy Foundation helped lay the groundwork for the
School. The Atlanta Board of Education approved its charter last July, and it later was approved by the State Board of Education.
As a charter school, Tech High is a public-private hybrid, relying on both public and private money.
Once students actually are in class, the Atlanta Public Schools system is expected to kick in about $5,000 a year per student. That could change, though, depending on how much (or how little) the city gets from the state.
So far, Tech High, in partnership with...