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June 2008
Providence high school principal leaving for job in Scituate
Posted Wednesday, June 25, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Michael Sollitto, the principal of Mount Pleasant High School, said he is taking a similar job in Scituate because of the constant turnover at the top in the Providence schools.
Sollitto, who was appointed principal of the 1,500-student school a year ago, is considered one of the district’s most promising new leaders, so much so that both Mayor David N. Cicilline and incoming Supt. Thomas Brady called and asked him to reconsider his decision to resign.
But Sollitto, who is leaving Providence after 14 years to become principal of Scituate High School, said their kind words weren’t enough to persuade him to change his mind.
“The number-one reason I left is that it’s not very stable here,” Sollitto said in an interview yesterday. “There have been six superintendents here in the last 14 years. And there has been a high turnover of staff.”
Sollitto said it’s difficult for school principals to set a course when the district’s mission keeps shifting with each new superintendent. Under former Supt. Melody Johnson, for example, teachers taught English using a lot of original texts. Under outgoing Supt. Donnie Evans, teachers who work with struggling readers have been asked to rely on a specific curriculum that spells out exactly what should be taught and when.
“I’m not leaving because I’m bitter,” Sollitto said. “I was happy at Mount Pleasant. I loved the faculty, the staff and the kids. But this kind of opportunity doesn’t come up very often.”
Sollitto is part of a larger exodus of administrative talent from Providence. This summer, five administrators are resigning or retiring: Sollitto; Nicolau Amaral, an assistant principal at Central High School; Lucille Furia, principal of William D’Abate Elementary School; and Cheryl Gomes, principal of Classical High School. In addition, Brian Baldizar is stepping down as principal of E{+3} Academy, one of the city’s new smaller high schools.
Last summer, two principals and three assistant principals, including the principal of Mount Pleasant, Maureen Crisafulli, and an assistant principal of Mount Pleasant, Michelle Natalizia, resigned or retired.
But Providence school spokeswoman Christina O’Reilly said that these numbers aren’t unusual given the size of the district, which has 36 schools and 2,600 teachers. Of the 78 administrators who work in school buildings, only 5 percent left last year and 6 percent left this year, O’Reilly said.
“Of course, we are sad to see any [highly qualified] administrator leave,” she said, “but these numbers are part of the natural course of organizational turnover. This is not something that will disrupt the continuing delivery of education in Providence.”
Steve Smith, president of the Providence Teachers Union, disagrees. Since 2000-2001, only three administrators still occupy their original positions, he said.
“There have been an unprecedented number of administrators retiring or leaving for other districts,” Smith said. “The district has to rethink leadership structure in the schools. It has to create leadership positions for teachers. If you feel you’re not going to be promoted, you will take your skills elsewhere. The district has to get better about how it treats its employees. People don’t feel valued.”
Actually, the district does have a path of promoting teacher-leaders, the Aspiring Principals Program, which pairs teachers with experienced principals in addition to the requirement that they take specific courses.
Nationally, two trends are converging to produce a high turnover of school administrators: the baby boomers are retiring in force and the federal No Child Left Behind law is putting more pressure on novice principals, who no longer have the luxury of growing into their jobs.
“Not only are we seeing more retirements, we’re seeing a lot of movement, only some of which is voluntary,” said John Nori, director of program development for the National Association of Secondary Principals. “And the urban schools seem to be impacted to a greater degree.”
Commissioner says progress in city schools inadequate
Posted Tuesday, June 17, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Although the Providence schools are starting to improve, far too many are still failing to make adequate yearly progress, according to Peter McWalters, the state commissioner of elementary and secondary education.
“We congratulate your central office, the leadership of these schools and their faculties for their efforts on behalf of students,” McWalters wrote in a recent letter to Supt. Donnie Evans. “Balancing this progress however, too many of your schools continue to miss their performance targets year after year.”
Seven schools are no longer classified as needing intervention under the federal No Child Left Behind law and six more are due to come off that list next year if they meet all of their performance targets for a second consecutive year, McWalters said. The state Department of Education declined to release the names of the schools because the classifications have not yet been made public.
More than 40 percent of the district’s schools are low-performing, which puts the entire district in a category called in need of improvement.
In January 2007, McWalters ordered Evans to come up with a “corrective action” plan for improving the lowest-performing schools or face state intervention. With guidance from McWalters’ office, Evans submitted a plan that introduced a new math curriculum for struggling students in elementary and middle school, added reading classes in middle school, and conducted a review of the School Department’s central office to help staff become more effective in improving student achievement.
When he issued the order, McWalters made it clear that this would be a multi-year process whose results would be reviewed on a yearly basis. Although the district was successful in implementing many of the plan’s programs, McWalters said that the school system still has a lot of work to do.
In a recent interview, he acknowledged that the district faces huge financial challenges, but he also said that neither the lack of money nor the absence of contract language would be acceptable excuses. He also said that the timing of his letter is intentional, because he knows that the district is in the middle of teacher contract negotiations whose outcome could affect issues that the state has identified as barriers to improvement.
McWalters, in his latest order, said the district needs to make the following changes:
•Develop a method to ensure teacher stability and for assigning highly effective teachers to the neediest students, especially in schools identified as low-performing. This requirement is a holdover from the original order.
•Implement personnel policies that retain highly trained middle school intervention teachers, district assistant team members and elementary literacy and math coaches.“This stabilization effort,” McWalters wrote, “must include both the elimination of undue annual turnover of staff through seniority-based hiring practices and the continued use of interview-based hiring for vacancies within these three critical positions.”
The district currently relies on seniority to fill positions. For example, if a sixth-grade science position is open, the teacher with the most seniority has the first shot at that job, provided he or she has the appropriate certification.
Evans agrees that the district “needs to assign teachers based on their strengths. But that is a contractual issue. “Can [McWalters] override the contract? Federal law says he can but he would have to proceed with great caution,” Evans said.
Evans said that he would not move to override seniority-based hiring without first getting support from McWalters and the teachers’ union. The issue hasn’t been revisited since contract talks, which were on hold earlier this year, resumed.
Meanwhile, Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith wouldn’t get into the specifics of McWalters’ order, except to say that the union is seeking clarification from the Department of Education on some of the language.
Smith, however, did say that the district must create incentives to attract the strongest faculty to low-performing schools and he said that deep and lasting student achievement will not occur unless the district is willing to empower teachers.
“What frustrates me,” Smith said, “is that the letter doesn’t address programs that have been proven to move student achievement, programs like pre-kindergarten and smaller classes in kindergarten through grade 2.”
Smith also said that the state can’t ignore the adverse effect of at least three years of sustained budget cuts, which have led to the loss of 300 teaching positions and caused numerous classroom disruptions.
“We’re in constant conversations with [McWalters],” Smith said. “He’s open to listening to what we have to say.”
Meanwhile, the state’s latest order, also calls for:
•The district to take over all 38 hours of professional teaching training, a move that is bound to run into resistance from principals who are used to developing their own training.
•Ensure that all teachers who are required to implement curriculum interventions receive training this summer. McWalters wrote that this training is especially important for mathematics, where student performance has been stagnant at every level.
•Obtain letters of agreement from every union stating that they will ensure that their members participate in the summer training and support the district’s new curriculum and programs. This requirement was also listed in last year’s order.
•Fill key positions in the district’s central office, including director of teaching and learning, supervisor of career and technical education, supervisor of secondary school reform, supervisor of mathematics and supervisor of science.
•Provide federal Title 1 monies to high schools, which Providence has already agreed to do. Title 1 monies are specifically allocated to high-poverty schools to pay for instructional programs other than salaries and building improvements.
Last summer, Evans developed an intervention plan for the middle schools, including the creation of student advisories and common planning time for teachers, but the district was unable to implement those reforms because of budget constraints, according to school spokeswoman Christina O’Reilly.
McWalters expects the district to respond with a detailed plan by the beginning of the school year, and he said that if the district doesn’t comply with the order’s conditions, he will get more aggressive in terms of intervening in the way the schools are run and organized.
State certifies Brady as next school superintendent
Posted Tuesday, June 17, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Thomas M. Brady has been approved by the state Department of Education to receive his certification as a superintendent in Rhode Island, according to a department spokesman.
Brady, who is interim superintendent of the Philadelphia school district, is now fully certified to take over as the city’s new leader on July 14.
Originally, state and local officials thought that Brady, who has taken an unorthodox path to the superintendency, would need a waiver from the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. But Peter McWalters, commissioner of elementary and secondary education, told the regents last week that no action from them was necessary because Brady has the credentials to meet the requirements for state certification.
After 25 years in the Army, Brady retired and was appointed chief executive officer of the Fairfax-Va., school district. In 2004, he enrolled in the nationally recognized Broad Center, which trains military and private sector CEOs to become urban school leaders. Although Brady doesn’t have a graduate or a master’s degree in education, his year-long internship at Broad apparently meets that requirement. The state educators’ certification office is also giving Brady credit for teaching at the college level.
In March, Mayor David N. Cicilline announced Brady’s appointment just a week after Supt. Donnie Evans said that he planned to step down at the end of his three-year contract in September. Evans is a finalist for the superintendent’s job in Cincinnati, Ohio.
State will maintain control over Hope High
Posted Thursday, June 12, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Hope High School will remain under the authority of state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters, a decision that is bound to please the principals and teachers at the once-troubled high school.
McWalters’ decision means that the district will not be able to tamper with the way the school is organized. Hope will continue to operate as three smaller learning academies, the school will have control over teacher recruitment and hiring and student advisory periods will be retained.
But McWalters’ new order goes even further, replacing traditional department heads at every high school in the district with teacher-leaders, who are responsible for training teachers, providing model classrooms and otherwise acting in a leadership role. Hope introduced these positions three years ago when McWalters imposed his original order for corrective action.
“The continuance of department chair positions at this time is counterproductive to achieving the new vision for all Providence high schools,” McWalters wrote in his letter to Supt. Donnie Evans. “All job specifications for these new teacher-leader positions shall be forwarded to the commissioner for approval prior to beginning the interview and selection process.”
Under state and federal law, McWalters has the authority to intervene in schools and districts that are chronically under-performing. Because more than 40 percent of its schools have been consistently low-performing, Providence is classified as a district in need of improvement, which can trigger intervention by the commissioner.
“At the time that Hope was put under state order, it was the only school that warranted such intervention,” said Mary Canole, director of the state Department of Education’s office of progressive support and intervention. “Now you have three other high schools — Mount Pleasant, Central and Feinstein — that are in restructuring.”
A school in need of restructuring means it hasn’t made annual yearly progress for six consecutive years. With those schools, the district or the state has the authority to replace the staff, place the school under private or state control or reopen it as a charter school.
Canole said it isn’t unusual for the state to review applications for positions paid for with federal money. The state Department of Education has targeted federal money to schools that are consistently under-achieving.
Canole, however, couldn’t say whether the state order will run afoul of the Providence teachers’ contract, which includes department head positions.
The new order recognizes the considerable progress that Hope has made since McWalters intervened three years ago, but says that the school has a long way to go in terms of student performance, graduation rates and attendance.
In 2005, McWalters set specific conditions for Hope because the school was beset with abysmally low test scores, a high dropout rate and significant discipline problems. Three years later, the commissioner wants to move student achievement at all of its high schools, Canole said. In other words, the district must bring the positive improvements at Hope to scale.
The challenge is how the district can boost the performance of all high schools without losing ground at Hope.
“Some of the things in the original order were implemented very successfully,” said Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the state Department of Education. “Are the results there yet? No. There are still problems with the test scores and attendance.
“There is a different need today,” he said. “What needs to be solved now has to be solved at the district level.”
“We don’t want to lose what Hope has,” Canole added. “That’s the reason the school remains under [McWalter’s] authority.”
McWalters decided to keep Hope under his authority because he said he felt that neither the school — nor the district — has the capacity to support the kinds of change that would lead to even greater success, especially in academic achievement.
“Do they have the staffing they need?” Canole said. “Do they have the budget to pull this off? We already know that they don’t have the technology they need.”
That said, Hope will no longer get a separate line item from the state. Canole said that the progressive support and intervention money will now go to the district, which presumably will have greater latitude in how the federal money is doled out.
There is one other significant change in the commissioner’s new order. Before, the district had little control over Hope’s curriculum. Now, the district will have total authority over every high school’s curriculum because Evans is moving toward a uniform curriculum for all core academic subjects, Canole said.
Hope, she said, will continue to have control over curricula for each of its three smaller theme-based academies: leadership, arts and information technology.
Reaction to the order was muted yesterday because school officials, including Evans, said they hadn’t had a chance to review the conditions, released late Tuesday.
“If it’s back to the old order, we welcome it,” said Arthur Petrosinelli, one of three principals at Hope. “We want to stay under the commissioner’s order. We’ve come a long way but we still have a long way to go.”
This winter, Steve Smith, president of the Providence Teachers Union, testified in favor of keeping Hope under the commissioner’s order. Yesterday, he said that he was pleased with the decision, although he wanted his staff to scrutinize the details.
The new order stems from a show-cause hearing that the commissioner held in February to consider whether Hope should remain under state intervention or be returned to district control.
Numerous speakers, including the school’s principals, argued that the high school was able to turn itself around precisely because of the state’s intervention order.
Staff testified that during the past three years, Hope has moved from a chaotic environment to an orderly one. Student advisory periods are beginning to build bonds between students and their teacher-advisor, individual learning plans spell out each student’s academic goals and effective partnerships have been developed with local universities and businesses.
But Evans urged McWalters to weigh the needs of one school against the needs of the district. Today, he said, the entire district, not just Hope, is listed as being in corrective action.
Early Dismissal Due to Excessive Heat
Posted Tuesday, June 10, 2008
TO: All Building Delegates
FROM: Steven F. Smith
DATE: June 10, 2008
After visiting several schools yesterday and speaking with teachers about the excessive heat in their classrooms, I contacted, Richard Kerbel, Director of Administration at City Hall, about closing schools at 11:30 a.m. today. After numerous attempts, I was finally advised at approximately 9:45 p.m. last night that over my objections and despite the extreme heat, Providence Schools would remain open on Tuesday, June 10, 2008.
It is obvious that the decision made by City Hall was the wrong decision. Many other communities such as Cranston, Johnston, North Providence, Warwick, Smithfield, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Cumberland, West Greenwich, Chepachet, Scituate, Tiverton and Woonsocket all decided to close for the day or dismiss students at 11:30 a.m.
As reports came into the Union office of classroom temperatures ranging from 90 degrees to 104 degrees, I again pleaded with City Hall to reconsider their position. Once again, I was advised that they were standing by their decision. However, as of 9:45 a.m., I received notification that Providence schools will be dismissed 1 hour early – reaffirming that the initial decision made by City Hall was incorrect.
Yet again, the city made the wrong decision!
State allows Brady to head schools in Providence
Posted Tuesday, June 10, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The state Department of Education has determined that prospective superintendent Thomas M. Brady is eligible to receive a superintendent’s certificate, according to a spokesman for the education commissioner.
Yesterday, the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education was supposed to vote on whether to grant Brady a waiver from the required certificate, but Commissioner Peter McWalters told the board that no action was necessary because Brady apparently has the credentials to satisfy the state regulations for school superintendents.
The state educators’ certification office has yet to approve Brady’s request for certification, but Education Department spokesman Elliot Krieger said he expects that the board will act quickly since Brady is scheduled to arrive here in mid-July.
“The regents don’t have to do anything,” Krieger said yesterday. “The certification office has to review the waiver. Brady does seem to meet the qualifications.”
Brady, who is interim superintendent of the Philadelphia school district, has a nontraditional resumé. After a 25-year career in the Army, Brady was appointed chief executive officer of the Fairfax, Va., school district. In 2004, he enrolled in the Broad Center, a nationally recognized program that trains military and private CEOs to become urban school leaders. The state Department of Education apparently considers the one-year Broad program as roughly equivalent to a graduate degree in education.
The state certification office is also giving Brady credit for teaching at the college level, although the certificate calls for teaching in a public school. Brady also has extensive management experience, both in the military and in urban education.
Brady was chosen in March to be superintendent a week after Supt. Donnie Evans announced that he would step down in September.
The regents postponed acting on the waiver last week because the certification office hadn’t had the opportunity to review Brady’s credentials. A special regents’ meeting was convened yesterday to revisit the request, which came from Mayor David N. Cicilline.
Board of Regents delays action on superintendent waiver for Brady
Posted Friday, June 6, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education has postponed acting on a request to grant the city’s prospective superintendent, Thomas M. Brady, a waiver from the state’s superintendent certificate.
Brady, who is interim superintendent of the Philadelphia school district, meets most of the state requirements with two exceptions: he hasn’t attended a formal graduate program in education, nor has he taught in a public school.
Mayor David R. Cicilline, who was instrumental in bringing Brady to Providence, requested the waiver on the grounds that Brady has more than enough experience, given his 25 years of military service and his decade-long career in top management positions in large urban public schools.
The postponement does not signal that Brady’s appointment is in trouble, according to Regents Chairman Robert G. Flanders, who said that the board tabled its decision until the office of the state commissioner of education thoroughly reviews Brady’s credentials.
“We wanted to make sure that we didn’t do this hastily,” Flanders said yesterday. “He has a very impressive background. The regents wanted the staff to take the time to go through his credentials thoroughly and come back with a report concerning what specifics in his background, or lack thereof, need to be waived.”
The regents also listened to the concerns cited by Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith, who asked the board to think carefully before issuing a waiver because of the message it might send to teachers and administrators who labor hard to maintain their certifications.
“I didn’t testify against Mr. Brady,” Smith said. “I asked the regents to take time to deliberate this process because the Providence School Board did not. The School Board has taken the position that this is a formality. What would the School Board’s reaction be if teachers were not certified? I was reacting to calls I received from administrators expressing their concern, as well as their disappointment that they didn’t have the opportunity to apply for the job.”
Brady was appointed by the School Board in March a week after Supt. Donnie Evans announced that he would step down in September. Smith and others criticized the process, arguing that it was done behind closed doors without input from the union or the public.
“Steve put them on the spot,” said state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters. “They were about to give a waiver to me without me having the full opportunity to review it.”
McWalters said his office didn’t receive Brady’s complete résumé until Wednesday. McWalter’s staff completed its review yesterday morning and a special regents meeting has been scheduled for Monday at 3 p.m. to act on the waiver. McWalters said that he doesn’t anticipate a problem with the request.
“Here’s a guy with a master’s degree in human resources,” McWalters said, “years of military training, and he’s run a school system bigger than our entire state. He has taught in college but not in elementary or secondary school. We will say that publicly. But his experience in teaching and management, all of those things that the district needs, is perfect.”
Brady began his formal career in education in 1999, when he was appointed chief executive officer of the Fairfield, Va., school district. In 2004, he enrolled in the Broad Center, a nationally known program that trains private and military CEOs to become leaders of large urban school districts. The intensive one-year program has produced a number of urban school superintendents and is considered to be the equivalent of an advanced academic program.
Council wants people to vote on electing School Board
Posted Friday, June 6, 2008
By Daniel Barbarisi
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — The School Board holds a unique distinction in Rhode Island: it is the sole appointed board, with members selected by the mayor, rather than elected by the people.
Some on the Providence City Council think that the rest of the state might have the right idea; council members have sponsored an ordinance that would replace the appointed School Board with an elected one, through an amendment to the City Charter.
The change would require voter approval, and if the full City Council approves the resolution, the question would be placed on the November ballot. A simple majority of voters is required to make the switch.
“We don’t believe that the board, as it stands now, is accountable to the people,” said majority leader Terrence M. Hassett, one of four co-sponsors of the resolution.
“We believe that middle management is top heavy. Test scores are down. The School Department itself, our school system has major problems … There has to be a drastic and substantial change, that way the board will be accountable to the people,” Hassett said.
Councilman Luis Aponte, also a co-sponsor, said that removing the School Board from the mayor and the council’s approval would add needed autonomy to the system. Committee members appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council, Aponte said, will never be wholly independent.
“That cannot create an independent climate whereby folks can be the kind of independent advocates that our children need,” Aponte said.
The City Council and the School Board have long butted heads on a variety of issues, but the fighting has intensified in recent months.
Council members have hammered the district on school performance, the communication with the council and recently, on its performance and accountability during the Dec. 13 snowstorm. Several called for the removal of Supt. Donnie Evans and others on the council have consistently opposed the appointment of School Board Chairwoman Mary McClure.
McClure could not be reached for comment last night.
A report released last week, however, charged that City Council interference is part of what is bringing the Providence school system down. The council, according to consultant James A. Scott, has trampled on the School Board’s authority by interfering in the superintendent’s efforts to reorganize his top staff.
“That’s interference, plain and simple,” Scott told the School Board last week. “If you’re going to hold someone accountable, you have to let them do their thing.”
City Councilman John J. Lombardi took offense to those characterizations, saying that providing fiscal oversight is at the heart of what the City Council does.
“They were basically telling the council, ‘do not do your job,’ ” Lombardi said. “We really need to do something about this.”
Hassett agreed, saying that the release of the report is just one more reason why this is the right time to change things at the School Department.
As it stands now, a School Board nominating commission accepts applications from potential members and forwards them to the mayor. The mayor makes his recommendations to the City Council, which ratifies his appointments.
Board members serve three-year terms.
Mayor David N. Cicilline could not be reached for comment late yesterday afternoon. It is not known whether he would support or oppose the resolution, and Hassett said he has not yet spoken to the mayor about the proposal.
Even if the mayor opposes it, Hassett said, the council will try to go forward anyway.
“We’re at a breaking point where something has to happen,” he said. “I think it will actually gain traction in the community, because I think people don’t think the School Department is accountable.”
The measure has been sent to a committee of the council and will get a hearing soon. Councilmen Nicholas J. Narducci and Miguel Luna also co-sponsored the resolution.
Central at West Broadway
Posted Friday, June 6, 2008
By Linda Borg
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — If necessity is the mother of invention, then the ninth graders at the former West Broadway Elementary School are a lucky bunch.
What began as an act of desperation (where do you put 200 students while their school is being torn apart?) turned into a model school arrangement that is earning praise from students and staff alike.
Last summer, over the staunch protest of parents and neighbors, West Broadway Elementary School was closed because its lack of exits violated the fire code. In the fall, it re-opened as a temporary home for ninth graders from Central High School and Hanley Career & Technical Center. Both schools are in the midst of wholesale renovations.
At the beginning of the school year, everyone was worried that the freshmen at West Broadway would feel isolated from the “mother ship,” as one teacher refers to Central, a few blocks away on Westminster Street.
What happened took everyone by surprise. Instead of feeling cut off from Central, the ninth graders bonded, creating a community in which they were not only the new kids on the block but the big kids on campus.
“The small size has created a positive culture,” said Bianca Gray, a teacher. “This is a happy little group. It has a different tone. I think it’s a combination of leadership and size.”
The school’s two principals, Ramone Torres and Michael Marino, went out of their way to welcome incoming freshmen and help them stay connected to the main campus, where the extracurricular activities are held. Before the students arrived, the principals invited families to attend an open house where they explained why their children were attending school in an elementary building.
“We embraced them,” Gray said of the students. “We made them feel important.”
Recently, students in three classrooms talked frankly about the pros and cons of a ninth grade academy. Many students said they have gotten to know their teachers better, while others said they feel more secure in a cosseted setting such as West Broadway.
“I love my teachers,” said Daphney Pierre. “This gave us a chance to get to know all of the freshmen.”
“The transition was easier because it’s smaller,” Ariel Betanes said. “I never got lost here.”
Not everyone was sold on the experience, however.
April Comissiong complained that ninth grade “felt the same as middle school. We didn’t have a high school experience because we’re not with high school students.”
Tatiana Ramirez took issue with the dating pool:
“When you’re 13,” she said, “you want to meet the cute high school boys. You want to be with someone more mature. I can’t deal with these little boys.”
A couple of students attended West Broadway Elementary as children and said this year felt like taking a step back.
“Socially, we’re disabled,” one girl said. “You feel left out.”
Perhaps because the students feel more connected to teachers and one another, fighting has been virtually nonexistent at West Broadway. Rather than suspend students for skipping school, Torres meets with parents, a conversation that would be more difficult to arrange in a school with 1,000 students.
The size also allows the school to be more flexible. Recently, students from Michael Colannino’s English class dressed up and had lunch at the Old Canteen, a Federal Hill landmark. Torres treated the students to a fancy lunch because they put on a special performance for Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Rose, who spoke to students about gang violence earlier in the year.
The transition from middle school to high school is one of the most difficult in a child’s life. Suddenly, students are jumping from a familiar environment to a much larger and more anonymous setting, where the pace is faster, the students bigger and the demands on teachers are greater.
At West Broadway, a handsome brick building nestled in a neighborhood of restored Victorians, there is no place to hide, no place to get lost. Teachers know when a student is missing; the principals know which students are the troublemakers and which are having problems at home.
The size of the student body also makes it easier for teachers to collaborate with one another, something that English teachers Jane Moody and Dan Lilley do all of the time. “It’s a joy to come in every day and work on something new,” Lilley said.
A couple of teachers are so taken with the new arrangement that they think it should serve as a model for a new kind of high school, a ninth grade academy, perhaps.
“I love my penthouse apartment,” Moody said, referring to her view of the treetops. “I don’t want to leave. “
The scale of the school has also allowed teachers to reach out to students in new ways. Lilley routinely has lunch with a bunch of students from his class. Because the cafeteria is designed for pint-sized students, Torres allows students to eat outside in nice weather.
“I’ve always been in favor of smaller learning communities,” said Colannino. “There’s a greater sense of community and you get to know your students.”
Teachers also say that they are more willing to go the extra mile because the students are committed to getting the extra help they need. Torres routinely stays until 4 p.m. so ninth graders can play basketball on the school grounds.
With only 200 students, everything from instruction to detention is much more personal. During detention, students write about why they misbehaved instead of doing busy work.
Torres is taking full advantage of the school’s unique status: he’s surveying students to find out how the school lunch is working, and he’s asking teachers to tell him how he could be a more effective leader. He even invites teachers to visit “master” teachers’ classrooms to see how they manage classroom behavior or teach different levels of readers.
Because of its size, Central at West Broadway is also able to be a better neighbor. When a neighbor complained that students were generating trash and scrawling graffiti, Torres spoke to some of his students and they decided to power-wash the neighbor’s fence and paint the rusting iron railing in front of the school.
“Sometimes,” Gray said, “transitions are all about relationships.”
Next year, the school will house about 280 9th and 10th graders from Hanley while the remodeling continues.
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