On any given day at New Technology High School, groups of teens giving presentations to their peers in sleek, glass-walled classrooms with a look of a high-tech firm.

Because of the lack of space, however, students also meet in eight portable classrooms in the courtyard, where tight rows of computer workstations line the walls.

A decade after the school was founded with the goal of using technology to better prepare students for college and the business world, Napa Valley Unified School District officials hope to replace the portable classrooms with a new building on the central Napa campus, one big enough to house at least eight new classrooms.

That could happen if voters approve Measure G, the $183 million bond measure the school district placed on the November ballot.

The measure would raise $125 million for American Canyon High School, in Napa County's fastest growing community. It would also include approximately $10 million to $12 million for New Tech, whose population has doubled over its 10-year existence, said Don Evans, the district's director of general services and facilities.

The students do much of their work on computer stations which take more room than regular classrooms, school officials said. They also need extra space to present group projects.

The alternative school was designed for 240 juniors and seniors, but now serves 400 students enrolled in all four high school grades, school officials also explained.

"We need a little more space," Evans said.

Alan Little teaches several subjects at New Tech, including a freshman class on how to use computer programs such as Lotus Notes and Microsoft Office software.

The portable classrooms are small, he said.

"We're (also) kind of isolated from the school," said Little, who believes the new building would create a more collegial atmosphere on campus.

Bond money would also be used to renovate the main building, a 22,000-square-foot former elementary school site constructed in the mid-1970s, according to the district.

The former Lincoln Elementary School building lacks enough restrooms and office space.

"We just don't have the money to build new facilities," Evans said.

The school was developed around a small school concept and for that reason, Evans stressed, the student population will remain at 400 -- 100 in each of the four grade levels.

Working your brain

Students, school officials and others said academics at the alternative school, whose students earned higher state and federally-mandated test scores than either Napa High School and Vintage High School in 2006, are not easy.

"The work you do in class, it works your brain," said junior Jack Loomis of Napa.

New Tech Principal Monica Tipton said New Tech has no school bell, students have to learn how to manage their time well. During the school year, the students may be asked to work on marketing studies; create skits about the trial of Creon, the King of Thebes, a character of ancient Greek philosopher Sophocles' "Antigone"; or draft floor plans.

Self motivation is a key.

"Do not go if you can't be responsible," said 2006 New Tech graduate Ashley Marrs of American Canyon.

Many students said they chose the school because they prefer a smaller campus than Vintage or Napa high schools, each of which enroll more than 2,000 students.

New Tech students -- including approximately 250 from Napa and 60 from American Canyon this year -- have to apply to get in. This year's freshman class includes 50 boys and 50 girls who were selected out of a pool of 150 applicants.

The students, who have to participate in an internship and create a Web-based digital portfolio to graduate, can also take courses at Napa Valley College.

About 90 percent of seniors go on to either a junior college or a four-year college, said secretary Pamela Tuthill, who noted that the graduates who keep in touch with the school include a Harvard undergraduate who recently went to rebuild schools in Sri Lanka.

The school offers students a chance to play ultimate frisbee, a highly aerobic game somewhere between soccer and football, but no traditional high school team sports. However, students can also participate in band and sports at Napa and Vintage high schools.

Sophomore Jeffrey McDonald, 15, of Angwin, said he chose to come to New Tech partly because he liked the project-based learning environment and had heard "a lot of good things" about the school.

"I get lost really fast in textbooks," he said.

Sophomore Matthew Loukides, of Napa, said he could not wait to return for his second year.

"The environment is really cool," he said, as he played with a Rubik's cube and listened to music on his way home. "Everyone is really friendly."