When the Boston Public Schools (BPS) open for business in the fall of 2005, 25 out of 34 Boston high schools each will enroll fewer than 500 students. Seven of those schools will be brand new, the results of the conversions of Hyde Park High School and West Roxbury High School. And the momentum to establish small schools in Boston
Horace editor Jill Davidson spoke with Dr. Warren Simmons, Executive Director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Established at Brown University in 1993 as an outgrowth of the work of the Coalition of Essential Schools, the Institute’s current mission is to generate, share, and act on knowledge that improves conditions and outcomes in American schools, particularly in urban areas
Anna Le, a graduate of Life Academy, actively participated on the school’s design team during its transition to an autonomous small school. In conversation with Laura Flaxman, Le shares her insights about small school design from the student perspective. Laura Flaxman: What should students be aware of when they’re moving from a large high school to a small one? Anna
Many of the principals quoted in this issue, though not all, have been named Thomson Fellows by the Coalition of Essential Schools, under the aegis of an ambitious professional development project called the National Re:Learning Faculty. The Re:Learning Faculty may be best known for its Citibank Faculty, experienced teachers who work closely with colleagues in their own Essential schools and
The movement to create small schools is driven by the desire for equity. Research and experience prove that small, autonomous schools serve students more effectively than large, comprehensive schools. While the creation of schools that are small is not in itself sufficient, smallness provides the best opportunity to create structures, relationships, and habits that define an environment for success. One
As years pass, we all face the general human condition of becoming tired, complacent, and, at times, not interested in further improvements. For example, Samantha, an excellent veteran teacher leader who was a prime mover of the creation of her CES high school 25 years ago says, “After all these years, I can’t believe that I am thinking of transferring
A strong principal’s convictions and guidance have proved crucial to the lasting success of school change. But how do leaders balance authority with a healthy respect for teachers’ growing participation in key decisions? How can they ensure that change will outlast their tenure? When people talk about what Essential school principals do, I notice, they reach for metaphors from geometry,
By 2007, Skyview High School, which educates nearly all secondary students in Mapleton Public Schools, a 5,700 student district serving several communities on the northern urban fringe of Denver, Colorado, will no longer exist. And by 2007, the district will offer its students the choice of seven distinctly different small high schools. But this is not, despite what it may
In the Humble Independent School District, the road to restructuring has become Highway 59, a refurbished highway running north from Houston. Connecting suburban Humble, Texas to Houston, it has encouraged significant growth in the affordable housing sector and corresponding demographic change for Humble, according to Assistant Superintendent for Learning Cecilia Hawkins. Highway 59 delivered sheer numerical expansion and a new