Paul Duke STEM High School will have at least 650 students in grades 9 through 11 for its first year. It will have its first senior class in the 2019-2020 school year.
The school is in the Norcross cluster, meaning students zoned for that area can choose whether to go to Norcross High School or Paul Duke STEM High School. Students do not have to test into the school, and it is not a magnet nor charter school.
Paul Duke STEM High School provides students with a technology-focused STEM curriculum that incorporates “active, hands-on learning.” Students attend classes Monday through Thursday and participate in “digital learning days” on Fridays, according to Gwinnett County Public Schools.
Students have the opportunity to take part in a dual enrollment program that will give them two years’ worth of college credits by the time they graduate high school. There are also opportunities to enroll in AP classes, research classes and industry certification programs.
The school cost more than $37.7 million to build and has 43 classrooms, three lecture halls, multiple labs and a dance studio. It does not have competitive sports, but there will be traditional extracurricular activities like student council, robotics and theater.
Paul Duke STEM High School is the only completely new school for the 2018-2019 year, but there is also a new extension of Phoenix High School, which gives students “work-based learning options” and individualized support. The new facility is located at Sugarloaf Mills.
©2018 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
