Today is graduation day at The School of the Future, a high school started in 2006 by Microsoft as part of its U.S. Partners in Learning program and the School District of Philadelphia. We covered the school in 2007, while this graduating class was in its sophomore year (there they call it “second-year”). How have the students fared in this experimental new environment? We talked with Partners in Learning executive director Mary Cullinane to find out.

Out of the 156 students who started school in 2006, 117 are graduating today and 30 transferred away, which leaves only nine students who dropped out. That’s better than

the national graduation rate of 67% (for economically challenged West Philadelphia, where most of the students are from, it’s a bit lower).

But there’s a still more impressive stat: Of the 117 who are

graduating today, all have college plans, whether it’s two-year technical school or a four-year state school. “In an urban

education setting this is really unheard of,” says Cullinane. “Not just in Philly but across the country.”

The college goals were set early for the students: On the first day of school back in 2006, the students, who were all chosen at random by the school

system’s existing lottery system, were told to wear shirts from colleges. These students were coming into high school with fourth and fifth grade reading levels, says Cullinane. Just the thought of going to college, let alone being accepted to that college, felt like a fantasy to most of these students at that time.

This emphasis on college along with a focus on real-world skills, plus the presence of Microsoft and other sponsors, has had a measurable effect on students, says Cullinane. But even that effect has seen an evolution in the last four years. “When we first started working with the kids, they would talk about working at a company like Microsoft,” she says. “Now they say, I want to be the next Bill Gates.”