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Microsoft to design city high school
By Susan Snyder
Inquirer Staff Writer

A $46 million high school dazzling with the latest technology - from interactive digital textbooks and computerized tablets to electronic play diagrams for the basketball team - will be built by the Philadelphia School District in partnership with the Microsoft Corp., officials announced today.

Planned for 700 students at a location not yet chosen, the school will be embedded with wireless, mobile technology for every school function from keeping attendance to ordering cafeteria meals and school supplies.

"We have the premier techological entrepreneur teaming with us - absolutely incredible," said James Nevels, chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission.

While the Seattle-based software giant has worked with other schools around the world, the Philadelphia school will become Microsoft's most comprehensive education venture, its officials said.

"We're looking at how technology can impact all aspects of the school - the way learning and teaching goes on in the classroom and also in how the school is operated," said Anthony Salcito, a Microsoft director. "We will create a school that operates more effectively and more efficiently."