New kind of school offers special focus

Monday marks the first day of classes at the Technology Access Foundation (TAF) Academy, a hybrid of a public school with major private funding and direction. TAF, a Seattle nonprofit, worked with the Federal Way School District to create the school, with a principal, teaching staff, curriculum, facility, equipment, student uniforms and diplomas.

Each class is limited to 25 students, modestly smaller than Totem's regular classes. TAF designed the curriculum, emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math.

The state dictates what a school has to teach, Dziko points out, but not how. The "how," she said, is where the TAF Academy will stand apart, relying on project-based, technology-supported learning. For example, rather than memorizing the parts of the body, students would simulate a medical clinic.