NEW HAVEN - A San Francisco based school is hoping to help create a talent pool of high tech workers in New Haven.
According to the Connecticut Department of Labor, 91 percent of Connecticut companies say it’s challenging to locate and hirer talent in the technology industry.
New Haven’s newly redeveloped District Innovation and Venture Center, on the corner of James and State Streets will soon be home to a new school to develop desperately needed tech talent in Connecticut.
“The Holberton School, a San Francisco-based school, trains world class engineers [...] in two years or less, and they're coming to Connecticut,” said the developer of the District Innovation & Venture Center, David Salinas.
The school, which is expected to open its doors in January, bills itself as a 'project based alternative' to college, with three primary components.
“And, by far the most important important one is learning how to learn,” said Julien Barbier, Founder of Holberton School in San Francisco, “The second one is critical thinking - project solving, problem solving - and the third one is teamwork.”
The school features no teachers. Instead, the Holdberton School promotes peer learning.
“They’re going to have to exchange information together, work on finding the information that they're going to need, the theory that they are going to need, the tools that they are going to need to apply to something concrete,” Barbier said.
And the tuition?
“Our students have the option to pay tuition only win and only if they find a job,” said Barbier.
And the payback is 17% of their salary for three and a half years.
“There are thousands of unfilled jobs in tech in Connecticut,” said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, “There are thousands of unfilled jobs in advanced manufacturing in Connecticut.”
“We are committing a half million dollars in the first year to help them get up and running, and a half million dollars in year two, assuming year one goes well,” said Catherine Smith, the Commissioner of the state Department of Economic & Community Development.
The school will occupy a 10,000 square-foot space inside the District Innovation and Venture Center.