Staff Board of Trustees
This is the third in a series of updates about Small Schools at Heights High.
Heights High has begun a complex transformation to create five small schools on one campus with the goal of improving student achievement. This is the first year of implementation, with three small schools operating and two more in the planning phase. All five will be open in the fall of 2005.
To some parents and students, the changes may seem small or even non-existent. During the first weeks of the implementation phase, some substantive changes in teaching and in the way teachers work may be hard to see. The learning models may feel nebulous to parents and students, but teachers are actively learning about and beginning to apply the models to their classroom practice.
Below are three examples of how the models are demonstrated in each of the small schools.
P.R.I.D.E. School
Learning Model: The Personal Model focuses on creating a school where staff know students well and design lessons that zero in on student needs.
English teacher Sylvia Stewart-Lumpkin was attracted to the P.R.I.D.E. School philosophy. "I have always tried to teach that way. I try to relate the classroom content to students' lives, and I learn so much about students when they talk and write," she said.
The P.R.I.D.E. school uses a "quote of the week" to create continuity and personalization. The inspiring or motivational quote is chosen by librarian Sheila Murray and distributed to the staff by principal Janet Tribble. "The idea came from our planning meetings last year and can be used in many different ways," said Tribble.
In mid-September the quote was from African American educator and author Booker T. Washington's 1901 autobiography Up From Slavery .
"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome trying to succeed."
Stewart-Lumpkin built an activity around the original text where the quote was found. Students read an excerpt from the book, conducted research to discover more about his life, wrote short essays about their reactions to his ideas, and discussed the relevance of Washington's ideas today. "Students can learn more if they see the quote in the context of the time period and publishing medium," said Stewart–Lumpkin. "I like students to know that there is not a right or wrong answer to some questions. But I do want them to support and develop their ideas with passages from the text."
The Renaissance School
Learning Model: Collaborative learning and independent exploration, with an emphasis on discussion groups for whole classes and small groups. Socratic Seminars feature open-ended questions that encourage students to think abstractly and not just give simplistic, one-word answers.
Sophomore students in Steve Young's English class read Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants," a story with choppy dialogue and without much description. The task for the students was to act out the story, filling in what Hemingway left out. Students had to decide how to deliver the lines with appropriate facial expressions and body language. The object was to have the students interpret the text and give reasons for their decisions based on the reading.
The school has instituted mandatory "special help" twice a week for students who received a ‘D' or ‘F' in the first grading period. Teachers plan specific interventions for these students to help them improve their study skills and raise their grades.
R.E.A.L. School
Learning Model: Experiential , where students don't just read or hear lectures about a subject, but experience it by interacting with people or using hands-on materials.
Service Learning is a type of experiential learning. It combines service to others with the curriculum, so students will write, research, calculate, infer, and participate in activities that meet the state standards for the grade level.
Silvia Sheppard's Social Problems class has been actively researching social problems and then planning and executing a way to help solve them. Some of the problems identified by the class are: teen pregnancy, suicide and depression, tobacco use, poverty, eating disorders, child abuse, and violence. Small groups of students worked together to research one of the problems. Then each group used an advocacy approach (education) or an indirect approach (funds or material support) for their work.
When students researched teen pregnancy, they looked at the causes and an audience that they could reach. Students are writing, illustrating, and reproducing a pamphlet. They have asked the Heights High health teacher if they could distribute the pamphlet in health classes. This is an advocacy approach to working on a social problem
The group working on poverty is using the indirect approach, by collecting food for the Harvest for Hunger organization.
Part of the research component included guest speakers. Retired Cleveland Heights Municipal Judge Lynn Toler spoke to the students about personal responsibility, and on December 2 Reebok Human Rights Award recipient Will Coley will speak about his work with political refugees.
Coats For Kids Campaign
The R.E.A.L. School and the O.W.E. (Occupational Work Experience) students at Heights High are working with the Salvation Army to collect new or gently worn coats for children in need.
Parents and Community members-If you have coats you can contribute, please drop them at the main office mail-room at Heights High by December 3.
Compiled by Joy Henderson, parent/community liaison for the Small Schools Initiative 320-3052, J_Henderson@chuh.org
