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62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 12, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 30, 2004 From left to right in foreground: Daniella Ford, Betty Cecil, Larissa McCoy and Rebekah Whittaker work on a Vietnam project in Gary Porter�s 34-student sophomore honors American history class. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell High schools blaze a trail Medford officials can be ‘architects of change’ thanks to millions in Gates grant money By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune The small schools that take shape within Medford’s two high schools might focus on preparing students for specific careers. They might link teens with interests in arts or technology. Whatever the new schools look like, the creation of five, autonomous schools at each high school will be a radical change — one that small-school supporters hope will ripple throughout the state. Both Medford high schools were chosen to pioneer the creation of small schools from large, comprehensive ones as part of the Oregon Small Schools Initiative, a $25 million program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust. Officials announced the selection at noon Thursday with a round of speeches from administrators, project sponsors and students. "This is our chance to be architects of change," North Medford High School Doug McKenzie said. Advertisement "As good as we are, we can be better," he said. Valerie Iverson, a college-bound senior at North, said that her high school career had been a success, but she knew that wasn’t the case for everyone. "This will target all students," she said of the initiative. "If we really do this, it will have drastic and beautiful effects." How the changes will play out and how they will affect students are still largely unknown. "Each small school looks different," said Doug Stamm, executive director of the Meyer Memorial Trust. "But every student will have a relationship with an adult at the school and the curriculum will be tailored to students." At Marshall High School, which serves students from an area of Portland known as "Felony Flats," a small-schools program kicks off in the fall. The plan is to break the school into four magnet schools, focusing on humanities, the arts, sciences and business technology. It was one of Portland’s four lowest-performing high schools, with high drop-out rates and low test scores. Although far along in developing its own reform plan, Marshall was awarded a grant along with Medford’s two high schools. The new schools planned in Medford, each with 400 or fewer students, will be separate entities with their own leadership teams, said Paula Kinney, a small-schools consultant with the initiative. They will remain under the North and South banners for sports and other activities, McKenzie said. The changes will be locally driven and guided by experts provided by initiative sponsors, Stamm said. The process starts with a year of training to help school administrators, teachers, parents, students and community members learn about types of small schools and ways to create them, Stamm said. The district will then map out a plan and the sponsors will help them implement it by the fall of 2006. Continued training and evaluation will continue through 2008. "Change won’t be easy, but we will be here with you," Stamm said. The Gates foundation has supported moves to small schools in several states and has developed a formula for how much per-student the transformation usually costs, Stamm said. Using the formula as a guideline, between $500,000 and $1.5 million will be distributed to each school based on their needs, he said. Medford’s two high schools are expected to get more than $2.5 million total. The money will pay for training, visits to successful schools, curriculum design and even overtime or substitutes so teachers can work on the project, he said. It can’t pay for the ongoing operation of the new schools or changes to school buildings, which probably won’t be necessary in Medford. The transition bumps up costs during the changeover, but costs then level out, Stamm said. South Medford Principal Cynda Rickert said the challenges facing schools won’t go away, but everyone is excited about the opportunity for change. "We will create schools with a high level of support, so every student can connect with an adult in the building and each and every student will walk across the stage at graduation," she said. The small-schools initiative strives to boost graduation rates and student achievement, especially among minority and low-income kids. Keeping that goal in mind will guide the schools to success, no matter what route they take in the reconfiguration, McKenzie said. "We might not have instant success, but we’ll come out in a good spot," he said. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities