Highland School of Technology is located in a working-class neighborhood in Gastonia, North Carolina. The school opened in July of 2000 as the district’s first total choice magnet program, and it draws its student body from the other eight high schools in the county. Dr. Ray Medford chaired the committee that researched vocational and technical programs across the nation. They developed a plan for a full-day comprehensive high school program with emphasis on three career and technical academies: Communications and Information Technology, Health Sciences and Biomedical Technology, and Manufacturing/Engineering and Graphics. Highland opened for the 2000-01 school year with freshmen and sophomore students and had its first graduating class in 2003.