About us
Originally founded in Chula Vista, California, the Maker Lounge is a communal resource for High Tech High's Chula Vista campus. Consisting of three schools (elementary, middle and high) serving grades K-12, which are part of an innovative public charter school system in California that utilizes project-based learning at the core of its education, collectively known as High Tech High. We are a title 1 school that serves a diverse student body. Admittance to our school is based on public lottery by zip code helping to insure that our student body closely and accurately represents the surrounding communities, many of whom fall under the poverty level.
Our students are some of the most well rounded and capable individuals I have ever had the pleasure of teaching. At the heart of our school's' core values is the idea of teacher as designer, meaning that each classroom and project takes on the characteristics of the teacher and students within the class. When it comes to the possibilities of our students and projects the sky's the limit.
Our schools are collectively teacher-led, orchestrated by our amazing directors. Developed through this foundation, each of our schools has its own unique personality and culture culminated by the individual skill sets, talents and personalities of the staff at that location. Our staff, although small are extremely close and invested in creating something unique to our school. The faculty that I work with is fully of thinkers, tinkers, makers and above all - dreamers. In the continuous evolution of our school, I wanted to invest my time and energy into something that would facilitate the creation of professional quality beautiful work, and provide our student with access to industry standard programs, tools and materials generally reserved only for select higher education and industry - thus the idea of a K-12 Makerspace known as the Maker Lounge was born.
This site has been developed as part of a graduate research project led by Kyle Linnik, a former Engineering and 7th grade Math/Science teacher at High Tech Middle Chula Vista, who is currently working at High Tech High Mesa (HTH's newest developing campus) teaching Applied Physics and Engineering. Kyle is an Alumni of High Tech High's Graduate School of Education, the first fully accredited graduate school embedded within a charter school network of innovative project based schools. Kyle's research was based around the development of MakerSpaces in educational settings and the impact that they can have deeper learning within the classroom.
Currently, Kyle is working on the development of Maker Lounge 2.0 at High Tech High's newest campus, High Tech High Mesa, located in central San Diego.
Our students are some of the most well rounded and capable individuals I have ever had the pleasure of teaching. At the heart of our school's' core values is the idea of teacher as designer, meaning that each classroom and project takes on the characteristics of the teacher and students within the class. When it comes to the possibilities of our students and projects the sky's the limit.
Our schools are collectively teacher-led, orchestrated by our amazing directors. Developed through this foundation, each of our schools has its own unique personality and culture culminated by the individual skill sets, talents and personalities of the staff at that location. Our staff, although small are extremely close and invested in creating something unique to our school. The faculty that I work with is fully of thinkers, tinkers, makers and above all - dreamers. In the continuous evolution of our school, I wanted to invest my time and energy into something that would facilitate the creation of professional quality beautiful work, and provide our student with access to industry standard programs, tools and materials generally reserved only for select higher education and industry - thus the idea of a K-12 Makerspace known as the Maker Lounge was born.
This site has been developed as part of a graduate research project led by Kyle Linnik, a former Engineering and 7th grade Math/Science teacher at High Tech Middle Chula Vista, who is currently working at High Tech High Mesa (HTH's newest developing campus) teaching Applied Physics and Engineering. Kyle is an Alumni of High Tech High's Graduate School of Education, the first fully accredited graduate school embedded within a charter school network of innovative project based schools. Kyle's research was based around the development of MakerSpaces in educational settings and the impact that they can have deeper learning within the classroom.
Currently, Kyle is working on the development of Maker Lounge 2.0 at High Tech High's newest campus, High Tech High Mesa, located in central San Diego.