What is the history of NTN?

In the 1990’s, a group of business leaders in Napa, California grew frustrated after observing a pattern of high school graduates unprepared for the workforce. The students coming out of the nearby schools lacked skills in communication, collaboration, and didn’t have a strong sense of self, let alone, engagement in their personal growth and learning.

Rather than allow the pattern to become the norm in their community, they worked with the school district to craft a new kind of school. This group of forward-thinkers laid the foundation for a school model that would produce students who were not only equipped with 21st Century Skills, but who were confident in their abilities and driven toward success for themselves, their peers and their community. In 1996, New Technology High School was opened and it was quickly designated a model of innovative teaching and learning.

In order to cope with the demand to visit New Tech High, the school created a non-profit organization. With some early help of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the small non-profit dramatically expanded its services and eventually evolved to become the current New Tech Network (NTN). After early success in Napa Valley and those early schools who replicated their success in other communities, demand for the New Tech Network model spread nationwide.

Over the past 20 years, NTN moved from an experimental partnership with one California high school to a network of over 200 elementary, middle, and high schools in diverse communities across the country. NTN is currently one of the largest school networks in the U.S. and continues to innovate to meet the needs of the schools we serve.