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48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, January 27, 2005 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 Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? 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 September 29, 2004 High school teams will learn to think small Educators from North and South Medford high schools begin a four-year process of turning two big schools into a bunch of smaller ones By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune With the busy first weeks of school behind them, a team of Medford educators is gearing up for the four-year task of transforming two big high schools into a flock of small, independent schools. In April, each of Medford’s high schools received a grant — $1.4 million for North and $1.28 million for South — from the Oregon Small Schools Initiative. The initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust, strives to boost high school performance by turning schools into focused learning communities. Coordinators, funded by the grant, will oversee the process. At South Medford, English department leader Mary Wieczorek and art teacher Peggy Strain will share the coordinator’s duties and each spend half her time on teaching and other school work. Ruth Ann Schwada, a language arts teacher, will serve as full-time coordinator at North. "I have enthusiasm for the process and the huge, positive change it can have, will have," Schwada said. "It’s exciting, but demanding," Wieczorek agreed. Advertisement In the coming months, the coordinators, principals and others will visit successful small schools, meet with experts, and develop a process for gathering comments and ideas from teachers, students and community members. Next year, teams will design the new schools — each with just 400 students, all with a commitment to rigorous preparation for life after high school and a strong connection between students and teachers. At least one small school should open on each campus for the 2006-07 school year. The following year, the last one with grant funding, officials plan to fine-tune the concept and open the remaining schools. Throughout the process, the schools must set and meet goals and schedules that fit the initiative’s broad targets of small, challenging, relevant schools, Wieczorek said. The sponsoring group will send outside experts to evaluate the schools’ progress periodically. The first such evaluation to set a baseline will be next month, she said. Each campus eventually will have five small schools with their own leadership, curriculum, staff, schedule and budget. The schools, however, will remain united under the North and South banners for sports and activities. "Opening these schools is the starting line, not the finish line," North Medford Principal Doug McKenzie said. The coordinators have read up on school reform and attended training. Next month, the teams will make school visits. Both will visit Glen Este, a suburban school near Cincinnati, Ohio, that successfully transformed from large and impersonal to a smaller school with hands-on learning and close teamwork among students and teachers. They’ll also visit International High School and Urban Academy, in New York City. North Medford’s team also will go to King Middle School in Portland, Maine.; Codman Academy in Boston; and Accelerated High School in Los Angeles. South Medford’s group will visit Boston Arts Academy in Boston, and Crisco Rey and Orr Academy in Chicago. The grant pays for all tours and no district money will be used, Strain said. The selected schools highlight various aspects of successful, small schools. Oregon Small Schools Initiative experts will tour with the Medford teams and help them analyze what works at other schools, Strain said. "The real trick is to bring that all together for students in Medford," McKenzie said of the research, experiences elsewhere and community ideas the team will absorb. Students, teachers, parents and other community members all will have a voice, South Principal Kevin Campbell said. "We want people to feel authorship," Wieczorek said. Such a dramatic change has prompted a typical range of emotions — from fear and frustration to invigoration and excitement — in the community, the team said. The Oregon Small Schools Initiative funded eight school transformations in hopes the reforms will ripple through the state. It plans to give funds for the transformation of four more big schools and also is funding the creation of small schools, including a bilingual arts academy, in Eagle Point. "This is not just structurally small," McKenzie said. "This is an intentional change in the business of how schooling is done." Reach reporter Anita Burkeat 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 © 1997-2005 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 Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers