Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ( CNN ) -- The world was watching in 2006 when the Microsoft-designed School of the Future opened in Philadelphia and attempted to reform education . Despite having four principals , curriculum overhauls , and student technology gaps , the school graduated its first senior class last week , with every graduate having plans for institutions of higher learning . `` This is n't a school about technology , this is a school about redefining the norm for urban education , '' said Mary Cullinane , director of innovation for Microsoft Education , who is also the liaison to the school . `` We 've had this saying from the very beginning : Money and technology are great , but people are better . '' And everything about the state-of-the-art facility , complete with digital whiteboards and streaming video in classrooms , was created to be different from the beginning , too . The majority-minority $ 63 million school was erected with school district funds in the tough Parkside neighborhood in West Philadelphia . The school partnered with Microsoft on new approaches to curriculum , teaching methods and staffing . The school is made up of students chosen by a lottery of public school students , with the majority of them coming from low-income households with limited access to technology and training . The school struggled in its infancy . Its first standardized test scores last year were daunting . Less than 8 percent of 11th-graders scored proficient or higher in math , while just over 23 percent scored proficient or higher in reading . It 's back to basics under the watch of Rosalind Chivis , principal for the last two school years . Regardless of the advancements , Chivis says success is in the approach . `` I do n't care how good the technology is , I do n't care how good the books are , the ancillary materials , if you can not create a stellar climate conducive to good teaching and learning , it 's not going to happen , '' Chivis said . `` It 's about connections , it 's about relationships , it 's about caring . '' Test scores do n't tell the whole story of School of the Future , according to Cullinane . `` We wanted to take on all the challenges and still show that you could do it , '' she said , adding that the school 's mission is to challenge the education status quo , all the while doing it under the same conditions as other public schools in the district . `` And today , with 100 percent of these kids having college plans , I think we showed we can do it . '' The original vision called for a paperless and textbook-free school . Students were to be called learners . They would receive laptops for taking notes and tests and doing homework . Students repeated the school mission `` Continuous , Relevant , Adaptive '' with ease . `` Things did fall apart here as far as the original vision , '' said Iman Griffin , a senior and the school president , adding that students do use paper and textbooks now . `` But we are n't broken , we 're still good , and I believe that I came out better . '' Griffin , one of the 118 students who graduated on June 15 , said she plans to attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania to study journalism . College was n't always in the future for Mahcaiyah Wearing-Gooden . There were times during high school that she wanted to give up . She credits the caring staff and individual attention at school with helping to keep her on track . `` When I actually grasped the concept that my future is what I make it , and my future is what I do exactly , I did n't want to fail , I did n't want to give up , I wanted to succeed , '' said Wearing-Gooden , who plans to attend Green Mountain College in Vermont to study climatology . `` I wanted to be everything that everyone said that I could n't be . ''
Microsoft - designed School of the Future opened in Philadelphia in 2010 . Despite having access to state - of - the - art technology , students initially struggled . The school is focusing more on one - to - one relationships . The first senior class recently graduated and every student has career plans .