Obama, Melinda Gates to visit TechBoston Academy

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff

President Obama, joined by Melinda Gates and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, will visit TechBoston Academy in Dorchester when he comes to Boston on Tuesday.

A White House official said the visit will build on the president's State of the Union call for America to be better educated than the nation's competitors and "win the future."

The official said Obama "will discuss the shared responsibility that government, businesses, philanthropists, and communities have to promote innovative education strategies that will prepare American students to compete in a 21st century economy."

TechBoston Academy was founded in 2002 with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It offers its students in grades 6-12 a college preparatory curriculum. It has middle and high school campuses. The president will visit the upper campus, which is located in the former Dorchester High School and educates students in grades 10-12.

The White House noted the academy integrates technology into all its classes, and students there benefit from honors/AP classes, dual enrollment opportunities at local colleges, and an extended day program.

The school has numerous private-sector, non-profit, and higher-education partners including Apple, Cisco, Dell, Harvard University, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Tufts University, UMass-Boston and Year Up.

Obama will also be attending a Democratic fundraising dinner afterward at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globeglen.