“Seventeen years ago, Larry Ellison told me that he’d love to have a school where students learn to think,” said Oracle CEO Safra Catz. “Our support of d.tech reflects Larry’s vision for a unique high school founded on principles we believe in: innovation, creativity, problem-solving and design-thinking. We couldn’t be more excited to build this school on our campus and to see the positive impact it will undoubtedly have on the students, teachers, Oracle employees and the Bay Area community.” Safra Catz, Oracle CEO
Charter Schools: Why Oracle Is Building a Public High School on Its Campus
Oracle is building “d.tech” a public high school devoted to science and technology education. The Design Tech High School — or d.tech for short — will open in 2017 on a section of Oracle’s corporate campus in Redwood City, Calif.
The charter school is already part of the San Mateo Union High School District. d.tech first launched in August 2014 as a California public charter high school in the San Mateo Union High School District. O The company plans to construct a 64,000-square-foot state-of-the-art, LEED-certified school that will be used by 550 students and 30 faculty, as well as the local community.
“d.tech will be the world’s first educational institution located on a high-tech campus which will give students immeasurable opportunities,” said Dr. Ken Montgomery, Design Tech’s executive director and founder. “We are incredibly grateful to Oracle for giving d.tech a home – a place to inspire and nurture students who will transform our community and world for the better.”
The company’s employees have been volunteering there by teaching workshops on subjects like coding and design. Those Oracle volunteers will remain involved and will work closely with students on projects at the intersection of STEAM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math.
Oracle hasn’t said how much it is spending on the effort, but it has a long-standing devotion to education in its philanthropic efforts, and said it donates about $2.5 billion a year worth of software and faculty training to schools and colleges around the world.