Many Boys Aren’t Interested in School. Can Building More Career-Focused High Schools Help?

DANIELSON, Conn. — Inside the carpentry classroom at Harvard H. Ellis Technical High School in eastern Connecticut, three dozen sophomores and juniors are building cabinets and framing walls. Saws buzz, hammers clank and sandpaper scratches. It’s hard to converse without yelling. But Julian Lawrence, 16, doesn’t mind t…