Small Schools in LA or..."Class of '09, Baby!"

An interesting online report about the power of small schools, an international focus, and the power of determined kids--even more so as IPS seems to be on the verge of backing away from the small school model.  I wonder if folks have thoughts to share.....please post a comment if so!

West Adams High, A Model For The Future?

by Karen Grigsby Bates: LINK to listen

Many seniors at L.A.'s West Adams Preparatory High School are actually looking forward to returning to school. The brand new institution is based on a mission to help students realize their dreams in a multicultural world.

Comments

[Jamie]

I work in an IPS school that planned for small schools but eventually backed out. There were plenty of reasons for doing so - all of them complicated and intertwined. I can say that a primary concern, however, was not being able to fully carry out the small schools idea. While students would have been assigned to a small school (and thus a specific group of teachers), they would have been required to take half of their classes outside of their small school due to licensing and funding issues which made teachers in certain areas scarce. We know teaming is expensive but carries some fantastic benefits at the middle school level, and I'm guessing the same would hold true in high school small schools - if you could get the model right. Since we couldn't, my school decided not forming small schools would be better than doing so half-heartedly.