Design and Architecture Senior High in Florida is giving its students a fast track into highly competitive design colleges and even plum jobs. In California, average students are getting to increase their odds at a free, first-rate academic prep school where they can finish in three years. What's happening?

The Associated Press reports that under Florida's system, the Design and Architecture Senior High -- known as DASH -- has been an A school for the past three years, far above the rest of the state on the states Comprehensive Assessment. It has a 33-member Advisory Board made up of leaders in the world of design and architecture, who act as liaisons to the professional community and serve as mentors.

Students take eight classes a day instead of the six regular high schools require. There were 538 applicants for 110 entry slots last year. So everyone accepted is extraordinary. The students take a full academic program as well as industry-specific classes.

Students say it's hard work, but worth every bit of it for the opportunities it offers. Students often intern at the firms of members of the Advisory Board, and have hands-on experience they can provide references for. In post-graduation competition, they can easily beat out applicants who haven't had such privileges.

Then in California, the first public three-year college prep high school is about to open in 2005. This has come about through the movement toward smaller schools: across the country, many parents and educators believe high schools are too big, and kids are falling through the cracks. An experiment on the Peninsula plans to change that.

Educators from Sequoia Union High School District – Carlmont, Sequoia, Menlo-Atherton, and Woodside – has put together a plan for a small school (375 students) for average students with a basic college-preparatory curriculum rigorous enough to qualify them for the University of California system. They're looking for a site near Canada College.

Eric Hartwig, now Superintendent of the prestigious Menlo-Atherton High, is removing himself from his job to head up the new school. When SF Chronicle reporter Sam Whiting asked him about himself, he had the right things to say: he was part of the PACE (Policy Analysis for California Education) think tank early on; that he's been educated at public institutions all the way; and that he likes being able to help families improve everything for their kids. We'll see, won't we? It's a great idea.