James Baldwin said it best: "For these are all our children, and we will profit by or pay for whatever they become."

Jonathan Sez
Education News & Comment
Sacramento Issues
Parent Rights under NCLB
Future School Closures
School Closures 2009
ED Facts & Reports
E21 Small High Schools
Charter School Paradox
Core Standards Initiative
Keep Parents Engaged Act
California School Funding
Family-School Partnership
sacdac.org Annual Report
Ed Facts Archives
Ed Faqs/Report Archives 2
What is a School Site Council
Padres/父母/Родители/Parents
School Accountablity
About SAC City DAC
Our Schools

 

E21 SCUSD Small High Schools

 

 

“Multiple Pathways”

By Susan E. Miller
Interim Superintendent

 

 

Last month, our district launched the next step toward redesigning our high school programs to better meet student needs now and for the future. This next step, called “Multiple Pathways,” builds on the work that we have already implemented since 2002.

Multiple Pathways IS about combining college prep academic rigor and high level, hands-on career preparation for each student in each high school.

As many of you know, as one part of its high school redesign, Sac City Unified created Small Learning Communities or SLCs at its large, comprehensive high schools. Each SLC has a group of approximately 400 students paired with a cluster of teachers focusing on core subjects which are woven into a career theme.

The district also created six small high schools centered on separate themes such as health professions. Another part of the redesign effort included increasing graduation requirements to better align coursework to that demanded by California universities for admission. Each student is on a college bound track should he or she so choose.

The result? Since 2002, Sac City’s high school enrollment, graduation and college going rates have increased. Dropout rates have decreased. Families have 42 options to better meet student interests and learning styles.

Structure and choices are one part of high school redesign, but so are:
    • more teacher collaboration,
    • greater student voice and
    • creation of real alternatives for students in high school and for
       college admission and careers after graduation.

In a changing global economy, a high school diploma is only the first step toward creating satisfying and productive life for self and family.
Research into the success of students who participate in multiple pathways programs demonstrate higher graduation and college going rates than their counterparts, as well as greater earning power after graduation. Multiple Pathways is about helping students keep options and choices open for students so they are well-prepared to decide the future they want for themselves.

Our high school redesign work is pioneering . . . and evolving as we learn and adjust from both missteps and successes.

We are ready to deepen our work by launching the next step—Multiple Pathways. It offers what students at all levels tell us they want: more relevance and greater challenge.

Multiple Pathways will not demand new facilities or great expenditures and the return will be invaluable. It will involve more internships, mentors, and relevant and rigorous hands-on learning for all students.
Please take time to check the Multiple Pathways website and the videos of students speaking to what they are learning in a multiple pathways program at www.connectedcalifornia.org


See how students and schools are moving beyond the conventional, and false, option of choosing either college or job preparation. Success demands the word “and”—as in college and career prep.
At Sac City we are increasing the number of well prepared high school graduates, and we want to accelerate our progress. That’s why we are embarking into multiple pathways.


 

Click here to email Interim Superintendent Susan Miller

 

 

 

Susan Miller: What Sac City Unified's Multiple Pathways is about

Published Sunday, May. 03, 2009

The recent article about Sacramento City Unified's high schools missed the point. "Multiple Pathways" is not about small high schools. It is not about expanding the number of small high schools. Such a move is not even under discussion.

 

Multiple Pathways is about combining college-prep academic rigor and high-level, hands-on career preparation for each student in each high school – not just small high schools.

 

Sac City began planning its high school redesign initiative, of which Multiple Pathways is the next step, in 2000, and started implementation in 2002. At large comprehensive campuses, we created Small Learning Communities, groups of about 400 students paired with a cluster of teachers focusing on core subjects woven into a career theme.

 

The district also created six small high schools centered on separate career themes such as health professions. We increased graduation requirements to better align coursework to that demanded by California universities for admission. Each student is on a college-bound track should he or she so choose.

 

The result? Since 2002, Sac City's high school enrollment, graduation and college-going rates have increased. Dropout rates have decreased. Families have 42 options to better meet student interests and learning styles. Structure and choices are one part of high school redesign, but so are more teacher collaboration, a greater student voice and the creation of real alternatives for students in high school and for college admission and careers after graduation. In a changing global economy, a high school diploma is only the first step toward creating satisfying and productive life for self and family.

 

This redesign work is pioneering and evolving as we learn and adjust from both missteps and successes. We are ready to deepen our high school redesign by launching the next step – Multiple Pathways. It offers what students at all levels tell us they want: more relevance and greater challenge.

 

Multiple Pathways will not demand new facilities or great expenditures, and the return will be invaluable. Check the Multiple Pathways Web site and the videos of students speaking to what they are learning at www.connectedcalifornia.org/multiple.php. See how students and schools are moving beyond the conventional, and false, option of choosing either college or job preparation. Success demands the word "and" – as in college and career prep.

 

At Sac City, we are increasing the number of well-prepared high school graduates, and we want to accelerate our progress. That's why we are embarking into multiple pathways.

 


This story is taken from Sacbee / Opinion

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

New CEO: Gates Foundation learns from experiments

By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP – 5 hours ago

 

SEATTLE (AP) — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spent billions of dollars exploring the idea that smaller high schools might result in higher graduation rates and better test scores. Instead, it found that the key to better education is not necessarily smaller schools but more effective teachers.

 

Some people might cringe while recounting how much money the foundation spent figuring this out. But the foundation's new CEO, Jeff Raikes, smiles and uses it as an example to explain that the world's wealthiest charity has the money to try things that might fail.

 

"Almost by definition, good philanthropy means we're going to have to do some risky things, some speculative things to try and see what works and what doesn't," Raikes said Wednesday during an interview with The Associated Press.

 

The foundation's new "learner-in-chief" has spent the nine months since he was named CEO studying the operation, traveling around the world and figuring out how to balance the pressures of the economic downturn with the growing needs of people in developing nations.

 

The former Microsoft Corp. executive, who turns 51 on Friday, joined the foundation as its second CEO after Patty Stonesifer, another former Microsoft executive, announced her retirement and his friends Bill and Melinda Gates talked Raikes out of retiring.

 

In the past decade, the foundation has given away nearly $20 billion, mostly in global health, global development and U.S. education.

 

It has been ramping up its giving since Warren Buffett, head of Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway, announced in June 2006 that he would make annual donations of about $1.5 billion to the foundation, with the money to be distributed in the year it is donated.

 

Raikes is also from Nebraska, where he grew up on the family farm near Omaha. He and his wife, Tricia, formed the Raikes Foundation in 2002 to support youth development, education and community issues in the Seattle area.

 

He hasn't lost his easygoing manner during his transformation from business leader to nonprofit CEO.

 

One of the things he's learned is the foundation must take a different direction with its education grants. The most effective path, he said, is to support good, effective teachers.

 

Between 2000 and 2008, the foundation spent about $2 billion toward improving America's high schools and another $2 billion for scholarships, primarily for low-income and minority students.

 

It saw graduation rates go up in many foundation-supported schools. But it didn't see significant improvements in student achievement or in the number of students who left high school ready to enroll in college.

 

Raikes said the responsibility for social innovation often falls on nonprofit organizations because the private sector doesn't see the profit margin in it and most citizens don't want the government speculating with their tax dollars.

 

The foundation plans to continue to experiment with its education policy.

"We're going to try some things and I'm quite confident that some things will succeed and I'm quite confident that some things will fail," Raikes said.

 

He noted that half of the more than 1 million students who drop out of school in the United States each year are from just 100 school districts.

What can make a difference for those kids? Raikes wants to find out.

 

The foundation also is investing money to improve data collection in public schools — in part, to better find out what works — and to help community colleges improve graduation rates.

 

Raikes talked of a study of the Los Angeles Unified School District after an initiative to reduce class sizes led to a liberalization of rules on who could be hired to teach.

The district found that whether a teacher had a certificate had no effect on student achievement.

 

Raikes said the district found that putting a great teacher in a low-income school helped students advance a grade and a half in one year. An ineffective teacher in a high-income school held student achievement back to about half a grade of progress in a year.

 

"We really have to focus classroom-by-classroom," said Jim Morris, chief of staff at the L.A. district. "Every teacher matters just like every student matters."

 

Morris said the most important factor to successful schools is excellent teachers and supporting what they do in the classroom.

The Harvard researcher who studied the Los Angeles district, Thomas J. Kane, now works for the Gates Foundation as deputy director of education for data and research.

 

 

The Associated Press

 

Small

High Schools

Is a small high school right for you?

• Specialized Programs

• Professional Learning Environments

• College and Career Pathways

For more information about each of our small high schools, click on the school name for the school website or call the number listed.

Arthur Benjamin Health Professions (916) 264-3262

Principal: Matt Perry
Art Benjamin HPHS opened fall 2005 with 150 freshmen interested in pursuing healthcare as a career. The mission of our school is “to provide students with an outstanding education, rich with relevant academic, application and leadership experiences - using healthcare as a theme. It is our goal that HPHS graduates will succeed as highly adaptable professionals due to their exceptional skills, diverse assets and excellent habits of mind. ...read more

Genesis  (916) 433-5300

Principal: Mary Navarro
In partnership with the California National Guard, GENESIS is a co-educational middle and high school with a military theme, a college prep academic focus and a Human Services and Government career focus.  The theme based school provides a rigorous and relevant education in a safe environment for all students...read more

George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science
(916) 228-5751

Principal: Allegra Alessandri
We hope you will choose to spend your high school years at the School of Arts & Science. Here we have two aims: to prepare you to be successful in college and to help you learn about the world so you will come to know yourself. 
To achieve this vision, we will help you develop critical thinking and creative problem solving skills using a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum that integrates the arts and issues of social justice and environmental stewardship...read more

Met Sacramento (916) 264-4700

Principal: Allen Young
The Met Sac prides itself on real world learning, rigorous curriculum and a deep connection with all of its students. We accomplish this by a student friendly 1:18 student to teacher ratio. We have eight  teachers who are called advisors because they also act as school counselors as well as conduits to the greater Sacramento community...read more

New Technology High School (916) 433-2839

Principal: Paula Hanzel
Sacramento New Technology High School (SNTHS) is a member of the New Technology Network, a Gates funded initiative. The school targets individual student interests and the development of individual responsibility by teaching in a creative, business-like culture that values learning at high levels....read more

School of Engineering and Science  (916) 433-5423

Principal: Glenda Golobay
The School of Engineering and Sciences is a new secondary school in our district.  The school is designed as a small secondary school with a capacity of 500 students when complete, in grades 7 through 12.  The school opened this September with grades 7 and 9.  The mission of the school is to graduate students that are qualified for future careers and studies in engineering and other sciences...read more


 
 

SCUSD Home Page

 

 

 

Return to Top of Page

SCUSD Parent Portal Page

 

 

 

 Return to Top of Page 

 

 

E21 SCUSD Small High Schools History
Articles from SAC BEE.Com Archives and other sources...
Recent
 

  • Despite struggles, Sac City Unified to expand small-campus program Sat Apr 25, 2009

    Sacramento City Unified School District announced plans Friday to expand a 6-year-old program to reform its high schools, despite signs that the effort is... more...

  • Sac City Unified expanding small high school programs Fri Apr 24, 2009

    Sacramento City Unified announced a new initiative Friday that will expand programs at the district's small high schools. The small schools are designed for... more...

  • Three of Sac City's small schools for at-risk teens have some of region's highest dropout rates Tue Aug 12, 2008

    Three of the small high schools that Sacramento City Unified launched five years ago to save at-risk students have some of the highest dropout... more...

  • As mayor of Sacramento ... Heather Fargo Sun May 4, 2008

    1. Sacramento's economy and the city's finances remain highly dependent on government employment and on housing development in Natomas. What would you do to... more...

  • It's crunch time for Sac City's 'e21' school program Fri Apr 11, 2008

    Five years after the Sacramento City Unified School District dismissed the old notion of what a high school should look like abandoning tradition for... more...

  • Leggett & Platt Announces First Quarter Results Wed Apr 22, 2009

    -- 1Q EPS of $.06 per share; sales from Continuing Operations were $718 million, 28% lower than in prior year. -- 1Q cash flow... more...

    •  

     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     

     

     
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Bill Gates And His Silver Bullet
    Diane Ravitch 11.19.08, 12:01 AM ET

    Back in 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had a big idea about how to fix the problems of American education. Break up large high schools and turn them into small schools and "small learning communities" of 400 or fewer students.

    The foundation believed that its new small high schools would lift graduation rates and student achievement, especially among minority students, because of the close relationships between students and teachers.

    In 2005, Bill Gates told the National Governors Association that "America's high schools are obsolete." The next year, I heard him in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum, where he said that the key to the success of the small schools created by his foundation was that they made everything "relevant," through hands-on activities and familiar topics.

    The foundation spent some $2 billion promoting the dissolution of large high schools and the creation of small schools. Big-city superintendents stood in line, ready to jump on the Gates' bandwagon, and today there are small schools in every urban district.

    Funded by Gates, some 2,600 new small high schools opened in 45 states and the District of Columbia. New York City alone has more than 200 such schools, with high schools devoted to such themes as leadership, the sports professions, technology, health professions, the media, diversity, peace and social justice.

    On Nov. 11, the Gates Foundation convened a meeting of leading figures in American education to admit candidly that the new small high schools had not fulfilled their promise. The foundation acknowledged that "we have not seen dramatic improvements in the number of students who leave high school adequately prepared to enroll in and complete a two- or four-year postsecondary degree or credential."

    The bad news about the Gates' initiative began to accumulate in 2005, when a Gates-funded study by the American Institutes for Research showed that students in traditional, comprehensive high schools were learning more mathematics than those in the Gates' small schools. The researchers also found that "relevance" was not correlated with the quality of student learning. Then in 2006, additional research commissioned by the foundation concluded that the Gates-funded small schools had "higher attendance rates but lower test scores" than other high schools within the same school districts in both reading and mathematics.

    We must give the Gates Foundation and its founders credit for their honest self-scrutiny. Most proponents of education reform defend their ideas against all critics, regardless of what evaluations show.

    At his recent meeting in Seattle, Bill Gates pointed to New York City's Gates-funded small high schools as a success because early reports showed a 70% graduation rate compared to a district-wide average of 50%. But what Gates did not realize was that the small schools in New York City were permitted to restrict the admission of English-language learners and disabled students, meaning that the large schools got a disproportionate share of students with high needs.

    Last April, The New York Times revealed that some of New York City's small schools achieved higher graduation rates by practicing "credit recovery," meaning that students could get full credit for a course they had failed or never attended by showing up for an extra class for a few days or by finishing a project out of school.

    But even in New York City, Mr. Gates acknowledged, less than 40% of the graduates from the small high schools were ready for their college classes at the City University of New York.

    The Gates Foundation's mistake was in believing that there is a silver bullet to solve the problems of inner-city schools, which enroll large numbers of students who are poor, have limited English language proficiency, and are more likely to require special education. Small schools are just right for students who need intense remediation and lots of extra attention, but they do not offer the same menu of advanced courses and electives, extracurricular activities and vocational courses that most students associate with going to high school. And many students have health problems and issues related to their family's poverty that even the smallest of schools can't solve.

     

    Our nation used to have huge numbers of small high schools; they were rural schools, which were unable to offer the same educational opportunities as big-city high schools. The press for small schools, now taken up by almost every big-city district, has diverted our attention from the need to strengthen curriculum and instruction, beginning in elementary schools.

     

    Whether a school is small or large, the essential questions in education cannot be ignored: What should students learn? How should they be taught? Are classes too large, especially for struggling students? Are teachers well-prepared in the subjects they teach? Do teachers have the resources they need? Do students arrive in school ready to learn? Until we answer these questions, the size of schools is not a relevant issue.

     

    The good news is that the Gates Foundation, with its vast resources, has pledged to devote its attention to what happens in the classroom. The first thing it will learn is that there are no quick fixes. If it targets its dollars wisely, exercises a measure of humility, and continues to evaluate its efforts rigorously, it can make a positive difference.

     

    Diane Ravitch is a member of the Koret Task Force at the Hoover Institution at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

     

    From Forbes.com

     

     

     

     

     

    Converting large high schools into SLC's

     

     

    How different should small learning communities be from the full sized, comprehensive high school that they replace?

     

    Not different in terms of coursework, but very different in terms of increased professional teamwork, coordination, instructional effectiveness, and student achievement.

     

    A mythology has grown up around small learning communities suggesting that these may ignore--or minimize-- the programmatic rigor, systematic skill development or learning sequences that create high levels of student achievement. In the uphill climb to gain acceptance and boost enrollment, some SLC developers may themselves contribute to this perception.

     

    When they do so, they forget that the alpha and the omega of school reform is not to make the outcomes of schooling different, but to make them better.

     

    "Better" and "different" may sometimes be confused as new programs describe their mission.

     

    A common enough trap would be to describe an SLC program where systematic skill development seems to be exchanged for exploration, experience, or the self-indulgent pursuit of interests.

     

    It is part of traditional schooling's failure that these have come to be seen as opposed to each other: the dreadful either/or of bookwork, straight rows, and disengaged students versus its antidote, a neo-romantic, spontaneous acquisition of knowledge. Both of course are extremes: the former has confused rigor with rigor-mortis, and the latter has become the rejection of that misdefined (and all too commonly observed) rigor. In their enthusiasm to break with the failed schooling structures of the past, new program developers may temporarily forget that critical elements of an instructional program that lead to student achievement should be prioritized and balanced-- not placed in an oppositional "either/or."

     

    SLC creators are visionaries as well as entrepreneurs--otherwise they would be satisfied with schools as they are.

     

    But sometimes the idealism of SLC vision statements can make light of the serious challenges that public schools face:

     

    Too many students who come to high school underprepared, semi-resistant or undertrained.

     

    Limited budgets.

     

    The need for homogeneous schedules to enable elective crossovers.

     

    Crowded curriculums dominated by state graduation and university admission requirements.

     

    Teachers who have only so much energy to give to the profession in terms of pro-bono planning.

     

    There is only so much that can be accomplished within the time and spaces that are our schools. Given limitations like these, what is needed is a concept of innovation that is rooted in quality instructional practices, comprehensive skill development, and content area core knowledge and expertise--all within a newly revitalized schoool culture where learning, engagement and meaningful application are the rule.

     

    The great secret is that small learning communities do not need to be novel to be successful. Neither do they have to commit their staffs to lying upon a Procrustean bed of exaggerated extremes or undeliverable promises. A newly proposed program that promises to consistently integrate all learning around "themes" or "interests" might be one example. Such over-promising not only requires planning time and teacher energy levels that are limited commodities, but also threatens to short change the quality and depth of student learning experiences.

     

    Instead, content area integration, when it occurs, should be a natural and gradual outgrowth of increased communication within the teacher team itself --and should always be respectful of the learning targets and essential questions of each content area, rather than something mandated or required.

     

    A real world example of this artificial knitting together occurs when two enterprising teachers decide to team up and integrate social studies and literature. Because the history side is doing the Civil War, the literature teacher decides to have his students read Red Badge of Courage.

     

    Which might be fine, were it not for the fact that Crane's novel is not so much about the Civil War as it is about mistaken idealism, the failure of the quest, the crushing power of circumstance and authority, temporary madness, denial, and what Freud called identification with the agressor--among other things.

     

    As such, Red Badge of Courage may have more in common with the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh  than it does with the Civil War...and perhaps should be read alongside that epic while the history teacher is doing Mesopotamia.

    The point: in an articulated curriculum, learning activities (such as works of literature) should link up to each other as a logical sequence. This imbues class activities with a coherence, value and meaning that anchors an otherwise compartmentalized, fragmented approach to knowledge. In a great literature class, therefore, Crane's work wouldn't be read because it was a teacher favorite, or because the Civil War was being studied over on the history side. Instead, it would occupy a special place in a series of readings that contributed to an ongoing commentary on course essential questions.

     

    Other novelties can threaten the vitality of a new SLC. The use of a traditional administrative model may not be glamorous or innovative, but it allows teachers to focus on instruction instead of program management. We learned this important lesson in our first year at Bellevue International School, where the shared leadership model bogged down in unnecessary duplication and diversion from important things.

     

    On yet another front: some argue that small learning communities need to be autonomous--which is possible if the SLC is a stand alone school and has secured enough enrollment to fully staff its program. But when SLC's are to be created within an existing large public high school, such autonomy becomes an impossibility. There are only so many AP teachers to go around; only so many calculus teachers. Access to their classes must be shared democratically and school-wide, regardless of enrollment in this or that SLC. Instead of strict autonomy, a policy that allows student crossovers for classes offered in neighboring SLC's--or between the larger high school and smaller pilot SLC's--accomplishes two important things:

     

    It allows SLC's to be small and still provide access to specialized classes...

     

    And it reduces the pressure for teachers to add to the number of their preparations, or to teach outside their area of expertise.

     

    Such a conservative approach allows teacher teams to focus on the main tasks of schooling: the creation of quality instructional experiences, the development of consistent standards and expectations, and the team task of articulated curriculum design that gives students a clear idea what they are doing, and why they are doing it--program wide.

     

    So, how different can small learning communities be from each other?

     

    In a typical 24 credit graduation sequence, 70% of a career-bound student's coursework is usually required for graduation (English, Social Studies, Math, Science, PE, Arts, CTE).

     

    More compelling: up to 90% of a university bound student's coursework would be required when one factors in extra university admission requirements.

     

    Given numbers like these, it is clear that high performance SLC's have no choice but to be more similar to each other (and to the comprehensive high school) than different.

     

    Overly enthusiastic claims about new ways of delivering, blending or side-stepping content in order to pique student interest cannot stand up to the imperatives of a crowded curriculum at the secondary level. Each program must ensure that content area competencies are met.

     

    Small learning communities, as part of the public system, are obligated to offer traditional subjects; but they must be more effective as they do so.

     

    The use of essential questions, student centering (re-defined in this website), checking for understanding and strategies for engagement and interaction: these are the keys to creating dynamic classrooms where achievement and interaction are high.

     

    Teamwork and collaboration are required to build effective teaching and learning cultures...yet in large high schools, teachers feel little connection with, or responsibility toward, other teachers who share their students during the day. Professional isolation and the lack of agreement about expectations, standards, values and goals are the norm.

     

    In SLC’s, however, core staff teams will have longer term relationships with the same group of students. As a result, both students and teachers will feel a stronger sense of obligation toward each other and toward the outcomes.

     

    This is not hypothesis or hopeful expectation--it is a fact.

     

    If up to 90% of coursework in SLC’s is virtually identical, then how will SLC's be different from each other, and what will be the basis of student choice?

     

    Elective families embedded within respective SLC’s may vary.  Co-curricular and school activities may also reflect a special content area emphasis.

     

     

    High performance SLC's should not advertise that their programs emphasize a choice of “career” or employment pathway--even though these will be a necessary part of the guidance program of each SLC.

     

    Such an emphasis limits the broadly democratic variety of students who enroll, and may create a false perception that a program is not seriously academic.

     

    The remedy is simply to state the truth: each SLC promises that incoming students will enroll in a high quality, small high school program that is well organized and close-knit; a program where competencies and excellence in each content area are a basic expectation, regardless of post-high school goals and aspirations.

     

    If career pathways or "interest" based curriculum do not distinguish SLC's, then what does distinguish them?

     

    There is no getting away from the required core; no short-cut or silver bullet that enables students to become educated without deep level experience with the logic of a discipline.

     

    But in addition to this core, SLC's may lay claim to a special emphasis (writing, literature, principles of design, communication, science, math, historical connections).

     

    Students would base their enrollment choice upon these, as well as upon co-curricular activities that SLC's offer to support that interest.  

     

    Can existing large high schools be successfully converted into a cluster of small learning communities?

      

    The first caveat is that "small is not necessarily better." The act of dividing up a large high school into small groups of teachers and students is merely a change of the first order. This is simply not enough.

      

    The key to small learning community success has to do with deep level second order change--not with clusters or physical rearrangements of class rosters and team teaching assignments.

      

    Well before the first students are admitted, small learning community staffs must collaborate in the act of creating a new program with a special mission and focus. Key agreements must be hammered out, and then committed to by all staff as non-negotiables of the design.

      

    Critical questions to be resolved would include:

      

    What do we believe is important?

     

     What behavioral and student performance expectations shall we establish?

      

    What are the most effective instructional practices that will guide students to fulfill these expectations?

     

     What critical skills and competencies must staff commit to teaching at each level and in each and every class?

      

    How can we create courses that are a sequence, not merely a randomized list that reflects departmental tradition or teacher preference?

      

    What do we expect our graduates to know and to be able to do?

      

    How can we arrive at this end point by the deliberate sequencing of learning activities?

      

    What essential understandings and skills must targeted, developed, and carried forward from year to year as they are extended and applied?

      

    Successful small learning communities must answer questions like these, and all staff on the team must commit to support and uphold these agreements before students can be accepted.

      

    When it comes to effective school structures that maximize student achievement and the joy of learning in a purposeful and focused culture, there can be no key step omitted, and no weak link in the chain.

      

    Does the start-up of a new small learning community create problems for other schools in the district?

     

     Whenever a small learning community attracts notice because it is doing something right, it can serve as a catalyst and motivator for other schools to examine their own practices and, if necessary, take steps to create the same kind of commitment and support for strengthening their own teaching and learning cultures.

     

     Successful small learning communities should be thought of as laboratories, or as assets which can strengthen District programs by sharing new information about "what works."

     

     What are some of the issues associated with starting a small learning community at a new site?

     

     There are many challenges that must be faced in starting a new small learning community. These not only have to do with establishing a physical site, but also with threading one's way (without losing one's way) through stake-holder expectations and strongly held values in order to arrive at a quality end-product.

      

    It is essential to establish the focus and vision for the school early on--and stay the course.

      

    Absent this clearly established focus, the question "which vision shall prevail?" can unsettle all aspects of school foundation and operation.

     

     Those who would establish new small learning communities must be able to effectively articulate a strong focus and vision--and provide a clear demonstration of the way that theory bridges over to practice and to results.

      

    Most important is the issue having to do with the quality of instruction and program design. We must ask: why is this small learning community being established?

     

     Does it exist to serve a narrow ideological or needs-based point of view?

      

    Is it offered mainly as an escape from the regular public program, or as a silver bullet that will at last enable students to succeed without requiring them to be accountable and responsible?

     

     Or is it founded upon a vision of quality instruction, quality relationships and high expectations?

     

     Once it is established, is this new small learning community able to deliver on its promises?

     

    Does it have a philosophical and programmatic center that can guide its decision making, manage its growth and preserve its vision despite the addition of new staff or the infusion of new families?

     

    What about the 7-12 configuration?

     

    Long-term relationships and continuity of curriculum are crucial to the success of new, high performance small learning communities. Every school must be accountable, and every school must ensure that students achieve competence in fundamental skills and scholarly attitudes before moving to the next level.

     Locating the small learning community in one building can accomplish this most easily--the Bellevue School, for instance, housed grades 6-12 together in an old elementary school, until it moved to its new site, an unused junior high.

     

     If a separate building is not available, then schools within schools might provide these long-term relationships. New programs that utilized elements of the International Model (such as the jr/sr high configuration described in this website) could then exist on one, or on two campuses: a lower school located at the Junior High, and an upper school located at the High School.

     

     Expert instructors would be identified who would pick up a class of 7th graders and move with them up to the high school. High school teachers who graduated their seniors might move back to the junior high to pick up an incoming class.

     

     Is teacher quality the most important concern?

     

     The quality and unity of the staff is paramount if a new small learning community is to deliver on its promises and succeed. Program initiators should endeavor to establish a new academic culture--not merely a new collection of teachers and courses, loosely organized under a vaguely defined thematic, career pathway or philosophical rubric.

     

     In order to maintain this culture as the program grows over time, new staff will need to be oriented, and ample provision must be made for professional staff to evaluate the relationship between delivery of instruction and program goals.

     

     This "delivery of instruction" is crucial to the success of small learning communities that aspire to produce enthusiasm for learning and achievement.

     

     Lessons and classroom activities must be connected and essential--a cumulative sequence of core knowledge and an extension of basic skills that both challenges and makes sense to the participants. In order for this to occur, teachers must know what they are doing and why.

      

    It is not enough for a teacher to merely be knowledgeable; instead, each teacher must deliberately set about identifying those essential questions, themes and skill practices that will underlie and connect all student learning during that particular year, and even more important, that will be carried forward to the next year, rather than jettisoned at the conclusion of each unit.

    of each unit.

    From Top Schools.com

     

    Older
     

    School board must protect gains of 'e21' reforms
    Renew Sac High charter, redraft 2003 settlement to assure continued progress

    Published on December 19, 2007, Page B6, Article 1 of 50 found, 490 words.

    ** Five years ago, Sacramento began an ambitious high school overhaul called "Education for the 21st Century" -- or, more commonly, "e21." The hallmark was smaller schools with more personalization and options for students.

    The Sacramento City Unified School District downsized its big comprehensive high schools and opened themed schools of 500 students each. It made the satellite West Campus a stand-alone school of 800-900 students. It closed

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)

    Return to Top of Page

    3 small high schools have some of area's highest dropout rates

    Published on August 12, 2008, Page A1, Article 2 of 50 found, 1467 words.

    ** Three of the small high schools that Sacramento City Unified launched five years ago to save at-risk students have some of the highest dropout rates in the region.

    Designed for no more than 500 students, the campuses were supposed to make school more personal for teens who might have gotten lost at the comprehensive high schools.

    Last month, when the state released new dropout numbers considered the most accurate account yet of how many California students fail to finish high school,

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Crunch time nears for small schools

    Published on April 11, 2008, Page B1, Article 3 of 50 found, 1687 words.

    ** Five years after the Sacramento City Unified School District dismissed the old notion of what a high school should look like -- abandoning tradition for career education and emphasizing intimacy over size -- students are showing signs of success.

    They are graduating in greater numbers, taking more advanced classes and completing more college admissions requirements. Their test scores are up and, perhaps above all else, many report that they feel engaged, challenged and valued for the

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Four charter schools get go-ahead

    Published on June 26, 2003, Page H1, Article 4 of 50 found, 482 words.

    ** The Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Trustees last week approved four new small charter high schools.

    The schools, which will each serve between 100 and 500 students, will open in September and offer students different curricula and more personal attention, district officials said.

    The move to create small high schools is part of the district's Education 2100 plan, or e21, which seeks to revamp the city's high schools with the help of

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Sac City candidates weigh in on district revision plan

    Published on October 14, 2006, Page B1, Article 5 of 50 found, 980 words.

    ** Three years ago, Sacramento City Unified School District embarked on a bold plan to boost academic achievement in local high schools.

    Today, the board majority that crafted the Education 2100 plan is in the minority. And next month, when voters fill three seats on the seven-member board, their decisions could have a big effect on the future of the district's high schools.

    Jerry Houseman, 74, and Roy Grimes, 56, are both incumbents seeking second terms. They say

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Sacramento City Unified School District6

    Published on October 21, 2008, Page B5, Article 6 of 50 found, 725 words.

    ** For the first time, the Sacramento City Unified School District is electing trustees from the areas they will represent. Areas 3, 4 and 5 have contested races.

    QUESTIONS

    1. The district champions small high schools, but they have some of the highest dropout rates. What's your position on the e21 small-school plan?

    AREA 3

    VICKI SIMPSON, human resources director: The percentage of dropouts has steadily decreased over the years in small learning communities, state

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Clear as mud at Sac City Unified

    Published on August 12, 2005, Page B6, Article 7 of 50 found, 450 words.

    ** Mandy Carrillo, student member of the Sacramento City Unified School District board, has a point. The way staff and board members speak and write is not understandable to a majority of people. She'd like to see somebody be in charge of "translating" district documents for the public and/or providing a glossary of terms to people.

    Better yet, why not simply speak and write in language that people understand from the get-go?

    The use of

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    City district's goal: Personalize learning
    Officials hope to alter the 'inner nature' of high schools.

    Published on June 12, 2001, Page A1, Article 8 of 50 found, 1036 words.

    ** Sacramento City Unified School District officials on Monday announced their ideas to overhaul their high schools by turning large campuses into personalized learning centers that better prepare students for the 21st century.

    Under the proposal, students would earn "certificates of mastery" at different stages of learning, would have more consistent relationships with teachers and could take three to five years to graduate.

    "It's

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Smaller school,closer bonds
    Burbank students will be placed in one of 8 small learning communities.

    Published on September 1, 2002, Page B1, Article 9 of 50 found, 809 words.

    ** When more than 2,400 students report to Luther Burbank High School for the first day of school Tuesday, administrators hope they will find the school a little less daunting and a lot more inviting.

    In a bold step toward re-imagining the district's large comprehensive high schools, every Burbank student will be placed in one of eight small learning communities, or a school-within-a-school. District officials hope that by breaking up the city's large high

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)

    Return to Top of Page

    Letters to the editor

    Published on March 16, 2008, Page E6, Article 10 of 50 found, 1020 words.

    ** School reform effort paid off

    Re "Retiring Sac City boss sees progress and big challenges," Forum, March 9: Retiring Superintendent Maggie Mejia has been a positive force within the Sacramento City Unified School District and our community. Perhaps Mejia's greatest accomplishment is that she embraced and enhanced e21 (the reform effort named Education for the 21st century), which was begun by her predecessor with leadership from a previous school

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)

     

    City schools reforms get $4 million

    Published on August 13, 2002, Page B1, Article 11 of 50 found, 799 words.

    ** The Sacramento City Unified School District is receiving a $4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create eight small high schools.

    The foundation will formally announce today that the district has been selected for the grant, which will be used to plan and launch the new schools over the next four years.

    Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Jim Sweeney said the grant will help the district carry out its effort to overhaul its high

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    City schools win $8 million grant

    Published on October 12, 2001, Page A1, Article 12 of 50 found, 946 words.

    ** The Sacramento City Unified School District has been selected to receive an $8 million grant to carry out extensive plans to overhaul the city's high schools.

    The grant will be matched locally by a mix of public funds, private donations and grants, district officials said.

    The Carnegie Corp., with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, announced Thursday that Sacramento City Unified is among seven districts nationwide to receive a total of $60 million as part of

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Charter schools to open doors
    Four new Sac City campuses will offer smaller classes, mentoring and a focus on college.

    Published on August 24, 2003, Page B1, Article 13 of 50 found, 1037 words.

    ** As part of an ambitious plan to overhaul its high schools, the Sacramento City Unified School District will offer four new scaled-down high schools - each with a specific theme - to nearly 800 students Sept. 2.

    With little more than a week to go before the charter schools' opening, campuses have been a flurry of activity as offices are stocked, classrooms set up, students enrolled and faculty hired.

    Teachers are moving into The Met Sacramento High School in Oak

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Sac City offers smorgasbord of high schools to fit all needs

    Published on January 13, 2005, Page B4, Article 14 of 50 found, 442 words.

    ** For high school students in the Sacramento City Unified School District, the choices will keep on coming.

    On the horizon:

    * The Health Professions High School slated to open this fall.

    * A math, engineering and science school for students in grades seven through 12. A partnership with California State University, Sacramento, the school will open in September 2006.

    * A Waldorf methods high school scheduled for fall 2007.

    * A school of social justice and

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    New Burbank principal tapped

    Published on August 21, 2001, Page B1, Article 15 of 50 found, 412 words.

    ** A veteran coach and educator has been named principal of Luther Burbank High School by the Sacramento City Unified School District's Board of Education.

    Bob Sandoval, 56, a vice principal at Burbank for the last two years, was named leader of the south Sacramento school at Monday night's board meeting. His appointment was approved by a 6-0 vote, with one member absent.

    "I'm very excited," Sandoval said, shortly

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    District must find site for campus

    Published on December 2, 2007, Page B1, Article 16 of 50 found, 1356 words.

    ** Ten months before a court-mandated deadline for opening a new traditional high school, Sacramento City Unified trustees this month will decide where it will go.

    When trustees vote Dec. 20, it will be their first significant step toward establishing the school for students from the former Sacramento High School service area, including the Oak Park, east Sacramento and midtown neighborhoods.

    It seems an unlikely project given the district's less-than-ideal conditions: Money

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    High schools think smaller

    Published on August 27, 2001, Page A1, Article 17 of 50 found, 1367 words.

    ** When Sacramento High School freshmen report to school Sept. 4, things will be different than they were for last year's entering ninth-graders.

    Instead of being thrown into a sea of 1,800 unfamiliar faces, the students will be grouped with about 100 other freshmen and assigned to a core group of four to six teachers.

    They will form a school within a school, something Sacramento City Unified School District officials describe as "a small learning

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Sacramento High's in limbo - and Sept. 2 looms

    Published on July 25, 2003, Page B7, Article 18 of 50 found, 1172 words.

    ** Sacramento High School is scheduled to reopen Sept. 2, but what sort of school will it be? That fate ultimately is up to a court. While awaiting that decision, it is of interest to look back at the last few months and wonder, what happened? This is an opportunity to examine the school's failings in light of an audit conducted at the school in May, with results released the same month. The insights gained from a close inspection can prevent further school failures, avoiding the

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)

    Return to Top of Page

    Johnson unveils ideas for Sac High
    The ex-NBA star's plans still need details, but on campus the news is cause for hope.

    Published on December 11, 2002, Page B1, Article 19 of 50 found, 1080 words.

    ** An extended school day, after-school tutoring, internships with local businesses and assigning students to one of five distinct academies based on individual interests are among the first details to emerge from the plan to save troubled Sacramento High School by turning it into a charter school.

    At a Tuesday news conference, former National Basketball Association star Kevin Johnson unveiled an initial proposal outlining how his St. HOPE Corp., which has previously opened an

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    It's students' turn to do the teaching
    Teens outline their complaints about high schools, make suggestions for change

    Published on March 1, 2001, Page B3, Article 20 of 50 found, 730 words.

    ** The ideas flew fast and furious Wednesday when more than 500 Sacramento high school students came together to let administrators know what they need to succeed in school and in life.

    From more guidance counselors to class schedules tailored around students' interests to cleaner restrooms, the youths, who represented the district's nine regular and continuation high schools, had a lot to say.

    "I'm here for my 2-year-old son,"

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)

     
     

    City schools overhaul planned
    District is competing to get funding to implement blueprint.

    Published on May 9, 2001, Page B3, Article 21 of 50 found, 392 words.

    ** Sacramento City Unified officials are preparing to unveil a blueprint to overhaul the district's high schools.

    Initial plans foresee a school system different from the one most urban students know today.

    Proposed changes include more counselors for students' academic and emotional needs, a mandatory free period, flexible class schedules and acceleration programs that would let certain students finish high school in three years.

    All graduates

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    SAC CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
    Small-campus effort to expand despite struggle

    Published on April 25, 2009, Page B1, Article 22 of 50 found, 710 words.

    ** Sacramento City Unified School District announced plans Friday to expand a 6-year-old program to reform its high schools, despite signs that the effort is struggling.

    Enrollment at a handful of small high schools the district began opening in 2003 has fallen short of projections. Dropout rates at three of the schools are among the highest in the region.

    And last week, trustees voted to close one of the six small schools due to budget cuts.

    But on Friday morning, with culinary arts

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Retiring Sac City boss sees progress and big challenges

    Published on March 9, 2008, Page E1, Article 23 of 50 found, 1049 words.

    ** Magdalena Carrillo Mejia arrived as superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District in January 2004. She plans to retire, for personal reasons, when her contract ends in June.

    In a wide-ranging interview last week, she talked about her legacy in Sacramento, high school reform efforts, Sacramento High School and challenges facing the next superintendent.

    Mejia has been most passionate about reforming the high school system -- downsizing Sacramento's

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Letters: The battle for Congress, etc.

    Published on October 23, 2006, Page B4, Article 24 of 50 found, 3384 words.

    ** The Bill of Rights under siege

    Re "Detainee law's fate uncertain," Oct. 18: The U.S. moved one step closer to a total fascist state with President Bush signing the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which eliminates habeas corpus for aliens, including legal residents. Without any demonstration of public outrage, Americans allowed Bush to kill habeas corpus, the heart of the Bill of Rights for these people. In one signing, Bush eliminated the right to a fair

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Sacramento High's in limbo - and Sept. 2 looms

    Published on July 25, 2003, Page B7, Article 25 of 50 found, 1172 words.

    ** Sacramento High School is scheduled to reopen Sept. 2, but what sort of school will it be? That fate ultimately is up to a court. While awaiting that decision, it is of interest to look back at the last few months and wonder, what happened? This is an opportunity to examine the school's failings in light of an audit conducted at the school in May, with results released the same month. The insights gained from a close inspection can prevent further school failures, avoiding the

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Hopes riding on Sac High
    Nationwide, many experts see its "reinvention" as a model for school reform.

    Published on February 3, 2003, Page B1, Article 26 of 50 found, 1430 words.

    ** Here in River City, the looming closure of Sacramento High School in June - and its proposed rebirth as an independent charter school three months later - has detonated an explosive response. Teachers worry about their jobs, students worry about their futures, parents worry about their kids.

    Beyond the frantic local reality, however, news of this unprecedented situation has captured national interest among the vanguard of school reformers. They're watching eagerly as the

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)

    Return to Top of Page

    Letters: Health Insurance, Immigration, Politics, Schools

    Published on December 20, 2007, Page B6, Article 27 of 50 found, 1163 words.

    ** Bill a bonanza for insurance firms

    Re "Landmark Assembly vote / Health revamp takes a big step," Dec. 18: Where was The Bee's headline on Aug. 28, 2006, when Senate Bill 840 passed both houses of the California Legislature in a historic vote that would have guaranteed the right of every Californian to quality, comprehensive, affordable, lifetime health care?

    I'm personally not interested in getting a health insurance policy. What I and

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Union cheers J and K victory
    Teachers supported measures to change the way voters elect city school board.

    Published on November 9, 2006, Page B1, Article 28 of 50 found, 852 words.

    ** The Sacramento City Teachers Association has a lot to cheer about.

    The union-backed Measures J and K, which created trustee areas within the Sacramento City Unified School District, passed with a handy majority Tuesday night.

    And the candidates the union endorsed -- Ellyne Bell and incumbents Roy Grimes and Jerry Houseman -- appear to have won the three open seats on the Sacramento City Unified School District board.

    First-time candidate Bernard Bowler, meanwhile,

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    City schools face questions over building program

    Published on August 17, 2005, Page B1, Article 29 of 50 found, 1109 words.

    ** A political power shift and a shortage of money appear to have thrown the future of Sacramento's high schools into question.

    The Sacramento City Unified School District once garnered national attention for an ambitious plan to overhaul secondary education. Now, the school board majority that created the reforms in 2001 has been reduced to a minority. New school board members are raising questions about some of the changes made by their predecessors.

    The issue

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Have School, Will Travel
    City students lead nomadic life, yearn for a campus of their own

    Published on June 5, 2005, Page B1, Article 30 of 50 found, 1778 words.

    ** When Amecia Redmond graduates from America's Choice High School in a year, she'll have earned a diploma without ever setting foot on her school's campus.

    In fact, she'll have spent each year of high school on a different campus - none of them the one named on her diploma.

    America's Choice High School - a small school in the Sacramento City Unified School District - has had a nomadic existence since it opened in 2003,

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)

     
     
     

    High school reform catches on in state

    Published on May 7, 2004, Page B7, Article 31 of 50 found, 542 words.

    ** High school reform was once the lonely frontier of professional educators. No longer. Over the past few years, philanthropic foundations, parents, business leaders and educators have joined forces to rescue students from poor performance and failing test scores.

    California's 1.7 million high school pupils are expected to increase by 14 percent over the next five years, but today we can't guarantee them a first-class education. Less than 10 percent of state

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Academy that teaches needy seeks a home

    Published on April 24, 2004, Page B1, Article 32 of 50 found, 931 words.

    ** An academy that has helped mold two winners of a prestigious scholarship in two years and groomed many more disadvantaged students for college is searching for a permanent home.

    Until this school year, the academy was at Sacramento High School, where motivated students undertook rigorous course work.

    In 2003, all 21 graduates of the Mathematics, Engineering, Science and Liberal Arts Honors Academy were admitted to four-year colleges and universities.

    But the academy

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Sac City schools pick new leader
    Southern California educator is known as conciliator

    Published on November 20, 2003, Page A1, Article 33 of 50 found, 1400 words.

    ** The Sacramento City Unified School District has selected its new superintendent, a Southern Californian who is bilingual, known as a conciliator, believes in education reform and who has earned numerous accolades during her almost three decades as an educator.

    Maggie Carrillo Mejia, who has headed the 35,000-student Montebello Unified School District just outside of Los Angeles for the past four years, was the district board of trustees' unanimous choice for the

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Letters

    Published on August 2, 2003, Page B6, Article 34 of 50 found, 4323 words.

    ** Poindexter's gamesmanship

    Re "Betting-on-terror plan draws fire," July 29: Terrorism Information Awareness Office director John Poindexter's Policy Analysis Market is a wonderful example of art reflecting life. Or is it vice-versa?

    Here is an administration packed with old Reaganites such as Poindexter, who himself funneled weapons to Iranian-sponsored terrorists while funneling the cash to Nicaraguan terrorists, and on the

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Letters

    Published on April 7, 2003, Page B6, Article 35 of 50 found, 1428 words.

    ** Freaking out

    I strongly disagree with The Bee's March 30 editorial "All freaked out," which called adults hypocritical for curbing students' "freaking" at dances.

    Mrs. Soto, my eighth-grade Spanish teacher, would tell me after my boyfriend walked me to class and we parted with a long smooch, "Carol, there's a time and a place." If my teacher's husband also

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Program helps Latinos fulfill college dreams

    Published on November 1, 2002, Page B1, Article 36 of 50 found, 1072 words.

    ** Jennifer Vasquez dreams of going to college.

    But the 14-year-old freshman, a study in ambition and high hopes, is aware of the obstacles she faces.

    "Not a lot of Hispanic families can afford to send their kids to college," she said. "And not a lot of Hispanics go to college."

    Vasquez knows the odds and wants to beat them. So she enrolled in Puente.

    "It guarantees you an opportunity to get into college,

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    City teachers, district split on pact

    Published on October 26, 2002, Page B1, Article 37 of 50 found, 1045 words.

    ** By most accounts, the Sacramento City Unified School District is in the midst of a Golden Age.

    Six years after a reform-minded board swept into office in 1996, test scores are up, grant money is flowing, and the district has been hailed nationally as a model of reform and progress.

    But amid all the accolades and accomplishments, many of the district's teachers and staff have become increasingly unhappy.

    The 3,200-member Sacramento City Teachers

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    For small school, the secret's out

    Published on April 7, 2002, Page B1, Article 38 of 50 found, 1298 words.

    ** There's the Theater Club.

    And the Environmental Club. Not to mention the Travel Club, the Italian Club, the Computer Club and the Mathletes.

    Don't forget the Hmong Club, and the Latino Club, and ...

    You get the idea.

    Think of any topic, hobby or culture, and chances are Hiram Johnson High School West Campus has a thriving club.

    "In some schools, joining clubs is seen as a geeky thing to do," said Jason

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Letters

    Published on October 21, 2001, Page L4, Article 39 of 50 found, 2421 words.

    ** Domestic partners

    Re "Davis signs domestic-partner benefits bill," Oct. 15: I am outraged that Gov. Gray Davis would blatantly ignore the will of the voters who approved Proposition 22, the Protection of Marriage Act. Why are the governor and legislators so determined to undermine the majority of the people?

    It becomes very clear through Davis' handling of the energy crisis (making the ratepayers pay for his mistakes), and now this, that

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Scheduling difficulties produce headaches at Hiram Johnson

    Published on September 13, 2001, Page B3, Article 40 of 50 found, 1035 words.

    ** The new school year got off to a rocky start at Hiram Johnson High School.

    When students showed up for classes on Sept. 4, about 1,500 of them, more than half the school's enrollment, had incomplete or blank class schedules, teachers said.

    The result: chaos and confusion as students lined up for hours outside the counselors' offices or were herded into the auditorium to cool their heels while staff frantically worked to sign them up for

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)

     
     
     

    High school test scores stagnant
    Frustrated educators are trying to figure out why teens aren't doing better.

    Published on August 17, 2001, Page B1, Article 41 of 50 found, 1177 words.

    ** Test results for California's high schools are in - and they're not great.

    Secondary schools aren't making the steady gains on the Stanford 9 achievement test seen at the elementary and middle school levels, despite teacher bonuses tied to improvement on the exam.

    Regionally, schools with affluent student populations like Granite Bay and Davis Senior high schools continue to do well, scoring in the 60th and 70th national

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    District's big plan: Smaller schools
    Five theme-based high schools could open in the city for fall 2003.

    Published on June 20, 2002, Page A1, Article 43 of 50 found, 991 words.

    ** Sacramento City Unified School District students could have an additional five high schools to choose from come September 2003, as the district ramps up efforts to overhaul secondary schools.

    Each school will have fewer than 500 students, meeting key reform goals by expanding academic options while providing more intimate learning environments.

    The schools, open to all students, will have themes ranging from technology to health services to a military academy, said Rich Owen,

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    School goals big at small sites
    After six years, mini-campuses still a work in progress.

    Published on April 8, 2007, Page B1, Article 44 of 50 found, 978 words.

    ** A few years ago some of Sacramento's high schools were so big, so crowded with students, officials called them "battleships" or "aircraft carriers."

    To Manny Hernandez, these giant schools -- some with as many as 3,400 students -- were impersonal fortresses where few teachers would notice if a student cut class. Fewer still would notice if a student started turning in sloppy work.

    "Students were basically

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Closing some city schools studied
    Enrollments are falling, and the district is faced with cutting costs.

    Published on January 5, 2004, Page B1, Article 45 of 50 found, 1000 words.

    ** Facing a potential $27 million budget shortfall, the Sacramento City Unified School District is studying cost-cutting measures including the possible closure or consolidation of several elementary schools.

    District officials say declining enrollment at the elementary level and projections that indicate the trend will continue spurred the school closure study, which has not been completed or presented to the school board for a vote.

    The enrollment dip is attributed to the

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Board rejects school charter
    Trustees urge a team approach to reform, saying Kennedy High plan lacks key details.

    Published on November 19, 2003, Page B1, Article 46 of 50 found, 778 words.

    ** Kennedy High School will not become a teacher-run charter school, with the Sacramento City school board unanimously rejecting a teacher-driven proposal that has been in the works for 2 1/2 years.

    But the board hopes to help mend the rift between teachers and school administrators, saying cooperation is vital for the school to continue improving student achievement and raising staff morale.

    The board voted unanimously against the proposal Monday night, citing an evaluation by

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)
    Return to Top of Page

    Letters

    Published on August 2, 2003, Page B6, Article 47 of 50 found, 4323 words.

    ** Poindexter's gamesmanship

    Re "Betting-on-terror plan draws fire," July 29: Terrorism Information Awareness Office director John Poindexter's Policy Analysis Market is a wonderful example of art reflecting life. Or is it vice-versa?

    Here is an administration packed with old Reaganites such as Poindexter, who himself funneled weapons to Iranian-sponsored terrorists while funneling the cash to Nicaraguan terrorists, and on the

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Letters

    Published on April 7, 2003, Page B6, Article 48 of 50 found, 1428 words.

    ** Freaking out

    I strongly disagree with The Bee's March 30 editorial "All freaked out," which called adults hypocritical for curbing students' "freaking" at dances.

    Mrs. Soto, my eighth-grade Spanish teacher, would tell me after my boyfriend walked me to class and we parted with a long smooch, "Carol, there's a time and a place." If my teacher's husband also

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Sacramento City Unified School District board (3 seats)

    Published on October 27, 2002, Page L12, Article 49 of 50 found, 837 words.

    ** Marc Carrel

    Age: 35

    Occupation: Education policy adviser

    Education: Juris doctorate, University of Pennsylvania Law School; bachelor's degree, University of Michigan

    Residence: Midtown

    Family: Single

    Experience: Member, district Facilities Strategic Planning Committee; Sacramento Human Rights/Fair Housing commissioner; deputy chief of staff to Assembly Majority Leader Kevin Shelley; former senior adviser to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante

    "For over

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)


    Letters

    Published on June 16, 2001, Page B6, Article 50 of 50 found, 4151 words.

    ** Independent study

    The June 3 article "On their own" was an exemplary study of deceitful muckraking. The unobjective reporting was Limbaugh-esque and should be commended for being "somewhat negative in tone," to paraphrase the article.

    The extensive examples used to illustrate the argument are incisive, while the overwhelming emphasis on one program and one student (who appears to be on a continuation school track) is a fine

    Purchase and Download Complete Article ($2.95)