More news - Schools within Schools

Smaller schools make grade
By Susan Snyder
Inquirer Staff Writer

The Philadelphia district has divided Kensington and other major high schools into smaller units in the same buildings, seeking better grade scores and a safer atmosphere.

Sandra Ruffin-Pearson picked up a disturbing rumor last December from her students at Vaux High in North Philadelphia: A local gang was planning some kind of trouble and possibly targeting Vaux. It helped that the veteran principal knew every one of her students by name.
" 'Keep it out of my school,' " she remembers telling a group of the housing-project tenants, some former students. " 'Do whatever you need to do, but do not bring it into the building.' They said, 'All right, Ms. Pearson. We're going to make sure we take care of it.' "

She hasn't had a problem since.

Vaux, with just 408 students, is one the Philadelphia school district's 33 small high schools, more than half of which have opened since soon-to-depart schools chief Paul Vallas took the helm in 2002.

The small-schools movement has been sweeping urban school districts in recent years, much of it pioneered by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, although results haven't all been impressive.

In Philadelphia, the district's small high schools, each with 700 or fewer students, are showing better test scores, higher pass rates, greater attendance and fewer suspensions than its 21 large high schools of more than 1,000 students, a new district report shows.

"Personalization has been the key," said Al Bichner, the district's deputy chief academic officer, who oversees high schools. "Teachers getting to know students by name, building relationships."

But the jury is still out on achievement, said Rebecca Reumann-Moore of Research for Action, a Philadelphia group that is in the midst of a two-year study of the city's small schools.

District data also show that dividing large high schools into smaller units doesn't necessarily make them safer.

Two high schools - Kensington and Olney - that were broken down into smaller schools within the same building had significant drops in violent incidents in their first year under the new model, but incidents are up again this year.

Still, the results are promising and the district should stick with its small-schools plan, said Reumann-Moore, of Research for Action.

"One problem in urban school reform is changing strategies too quickly and not giving something time to work," she said.

"We need to try to build on that to give it a chance for success. It's not a panacea but it's promising."

That is why the district remains committed to creating 10 more, even though they cost more at a time when the cash-strapped district is facing a deficit.

Newly created small schools also appear to be doing better than existing schools that have been broken up and reduced in size, the Research for Action study shows.

Reumann-Moore and a colleague, Tracey Hartmann, cite several reasons for their success: They brought on their principals earlier, had more time for planning, started with one grade, had more autonomy in selecting staff, and seemed to get more district support.

The district should find a way to give all of the schools equitable support, they said.

District spokesman Fernando Gallard acknowledged the group's findings and said the district would like to be able to open each small school in a separate location.

"We have to work within our financial reality. This is the only way we can do it right now. Hopefully, as the schools go forward, a new culture will be created and you'll see faster progress," he said.

Small schools account for more than half of the district's 60 high schools.

Unlike some other large cities, Philadelphia has implemented its small-schools project with no major grant or foundation dollars, which the researchers cited as a shortcoming. New York City received $70 million and Chicago $25 million.

On the down side, smaller schools tend to have fewer athletics and extracurriculars, although some of the Philadelphia schools are banding together to create programs. And because staffs are smaller - typically there's only one principal - they are stretched.

When Vallas arrived in Philadelphia, he vowed to decrease the size of high schools while giving parents choice with smaller, theme-based high schools. The result is a decrease in the average size of high schools, from 1,700 students to about 800.

"In the past, if you didn't win the lottery and get into one of the few citywide magnet schools, you were stuck. Well, no more," Vallas said. "Clearly, we've dramatically expanded school choice."

He mandated that the schools be academically aggressive with college preparatory courses and partnerships with universities. Small, by itself, he said, wasn't enough.

To create the smaller schools, the district has made annexes or satellite campuses into free-standing schools, converted middle schools into high schools, and opened new schools in other locations, such as the much-heralded High School of the Future, in partnership with the Microsoft Corp.

There's a science school in partnership with the Franklin Institute, a high school in partnership with the National Constitution Center, and an academic magnet in South Philadelphia. A performing arts high school is slated for the Northeast and an international high school with the University of Pennsylvania is in planning.

Since Vallas' arrival, the district also has broken down several of its large high schools. Kensington was divided into three schools, with a new fourth campus to be built.

Olney High was split into two schools and plans call for it to be reduced further when a new charter opens.

The smaller high schools are popular among parents and students.

The Science Leadership Academy, which opened in September in partnership with the Franklin Institute, drew more than 2,000 applications for 120 slots, more than double the amount that came in last year.

The 110-student school, which serves only ninth graders and will add an upper grade each year, won't exceed 500 students.

The district also plans to reduce the size of two of its most troublesome high schools: Germantown and West Philadelphia.

Germantown will close a section of its sprawling 400,000-square-foot building, allowing security to concentrate on a smaller area. Germantown was in the news recently after two students attacked a teacher and broke his neck.

A new West Philadelphia High is planned for a site near the existing school for no more than 800 students, Vallas said. Its opening is at least two years away.

In the meantime, the district will divide the existing 1,100-student West Philadelphia into smaller units next year and close off part of the building.

At Vaux, scores on benchmark testing, given every six weeks, are up and attendance is running in the mid 80s, higher than the average percentage for high schools, Bichner said. The school hopes this year to meet federal benchmarks in reading and math.

Staffing has become easier as the school's reputation improved, Ruffin-Pearson said.

"This is the first year we have teachers in every area we need, except for chemistry."

There was only one teacher assault at the school this year - an honor student who pushed past a teacher in anger after returning to school from a funeral, she said. That student was removed from the building.

Vaux has used its funding to lower class size to 20, below the norm of 33.

Matthew Tsikata, a math teacher, said he is happier at Vaux than he has been at several large city high schools. He has more support from the administration. Communication with students is better.

"I'm more able to express myself compassionately to them," he said. "When numbers are larger, it's much more difficult to reach them."

Students say they like the smaller environment, too.

"You learn more," said Brittany Darden, 17, a senior, "more attention from teachers."
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Contact staff writer Susan Snyder at 215-854-4693 or ssnyder@phillynews.com.
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