School district plan to fit changing times

Jeff Benson

Students asked for flexible schedules.

Teachers wanted more training to go along with all the new

requirements.

Parents wanted to bring arts back to the schools.

The requests began as scribbles on Post-it notes but developed

into the basis for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District five-year

strategic plan.

School administrators listened for seven months as students,

parents and teachers detailed what they thought would make the

district better and then drew up the district’s 2005-10 strategic

plan.

Trustees last week unanimously approved the final draft of a plan

detailing what the district hopes to accomplish in the next five

years.

The strategic plan was drafted with the improvement of nearly

every segment of the school system in mind. The most notable goals

for the upcoming years are the redesign of the current high school

system; the creation of a teacher training center and demonstration

school; the addition of a hands-on, inquiry-based science program;

and the proposal of building a magnet arts school to enhance visual

and performing arts participation.

The district will also look to expand after-school, summer and

career preparation training programs and to provide greater access to

online data and resources.

The board approved the first strategic plan in 1998 as a guideline

for 1999-2004, board president Dana Black said.

A 40-member committee made up of the trustees, local chamber of

commerce members, teacher’s union representatives and other community

leaders met in April to review the procedure for drafting the plan.

About 400 parents and students also weighed in on the plan in

study groups at three “teen-hall meetings” during the summer, trustee

David Brooks said.

“We worked with it for many months to get as broad a spectrum as

possible,” Brooks said. “The more people know about these things, the

more they work.”

HIGH SCHOOL REDESIGN

Students got their wish -- a more flexible, college-like schedule.

“Parents have been calling me in droves,” Black said. “‘You’re

really changing high school?’ Yes, we’re changing things. But it’ll

be a slow process.”

The redesign outlines sweeping changes in the average high school

day. If trustees approve the plan, students attending Newport-Mesa

high schools will have the opportunity to take evening and online

courses. The plan is to restructure high school curriculum,

scheduling, environment, instruction and community involvement to

meet changing student needs.

The flexibility will also give students the opportunity to

graduate in three, four or five years depending on how many classes

they choose to squeeze in, Black said.

“In our teen-hall meetings last year, kids were saying they’re

stressed out because they’re having no fun,” Black said. “They’ve got

college requirements, they’re in [advanced placement] classes,

they’re competitive in sports, and they have community service and

leadership roles. Some want to be in front of the teacher, and some

want to be in front of the computer. For some, it’s having more

one-on-one access.

“We want to be a district with lots of alternatives.”

Corona del Mar High School PTA President Jill Money, who has two

children who attend district schools, said she welcomes the change.

The current 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday routine, she

said, has become just that -- too routine. It no longer suits

students and teachers the ways it used to, Money said. Some students

have jobs and extracurricular pursuits that don’t allow them to

participate adequately enough during the day, she said. Others are

frustrated because they learn at a different pace.

“Our problem is that the school is viewed as so academic that if

you’re a more middle-of-the-road student, you don’t necessarily fit

in,” Money said. “Our goal is to find a way for the average student

to succeed.”

Teachers are affected in other ways, Money said, because the ones

with the long commutes, multiple mouths to feed and busy lives would

benefit from flexible schedules and the ability to teach classes

online and potentially from home.

“The way it was explained to me is like when you go to buy a house

in a housing development, there are many models to choose from,”

Money said. “Maybe I like Model A and you like Model B. The high

school redesign is the same way. The same house doesn’t necessarily

fit for everyone.”

This summer, students had the option of taking one of two online

summer school classes. A couple of Costa Mesa High School students

reported staying up until 1 or 2 a.m. on several occasions to finish

their online coursework, Principal Fred Navarro said.

“I don’t think it will be something for everybody,” Navarro said.

“What we do, we do well for most kids. [But] there are some really

bright kids who find alternative sources of getting a high school

education. We don’t expect every kid to take an online class and work

at those hours of the morning, but I can see them going to an

early-evening schedule.”

Estancia Principal Tom Antal said he’s heard nothing but positive

feedback from parents on the redesign.

“I think anytime you have an issue, you’ll have more than one

side, but from what I’ve heard it’s been all positive,” Antal said.

“My hope with the redesign is that it will accommodate families and

make opportunities for the students.”

TEACHER TRAINING CENTER

Teachers’ pleas were also answered.

The five-year plan calls for a teacher training center and

demonstration school to provide educators with learning tools to

improve their teaching skills.

Harbor View Elementary School second-grade teacher Vanessa Hogan

said she already has ideas of what she could share with teachers from

other schools.

“Our school adopted the Step Up to Writing program last year, and

I use that weekly in my classroom,” she said. “We use colored dots to

organize paragraphs and make things easier to read. If second-grade

teachers got together and shared that, we all could learn from it. It

sounds like a good place to share ideas or meet, and I think that

would be useful.”

In the next two years, the district will purchase commercial or

storefront property, where the teaching community can hold staff

development meetings, train teachers and conduct research, Black

said. The process for acquiring a facility strictly for staff members

was first mentioned in the 1998 strategic plan, but a short leash on

costs prevented district personnel from ever going through with it,

she said.

“Teachers need facilities, and the center would provide lots of

technology that would be cost-prohibitive at every school,” Black

said.

Because the teacher training center is in the strategic plan,

district officials will sit down and discuss the budgeting and

construction processes sometime in the next five years before

bringing it to the board for approval, district spokeswoman Jane

Garland said.

“We do a lot of staff development training, and we’ve always

wanted our own building, where we can do demonstrations on-site,”

Garland said. “The hope would be to build a school with excellent

teachers who demonstrate great lessons -- to basically teach the

teachers to teach better.”

MAGNET SCHOOL FOR ARTS

The third innovative and drastic change would be the possible

creation of a magnet school for the arts.

It is the piece Brooks feels is crucial to the district. The

problem, he said, is finding funding to support the arts when some of

those programs are being cut.

“[The arts is] one area I think needs to be addressed right away,”

he said. “Some of the other board members think putting in more music

and arts is something we want to do, but including them and funding

them are two different things. That’s one of our goals, but the

priority of this has to do with how we’ll get funding in the next

fiscal year.”

Grants seem like the best hope for restructuring visual and

performing arts programs on school campuses, he said, but there is

another possibility.

The district is seriously considering the conversion of an

existing school into a magnet arts school that draws art students

from other district schools, Black said. The application-only program

would still provide college-preparatory classes and would be

available on a first-come, first-served basis, she said.

By tagging one school as a magnet arts school, the district would

avoid the costs of supplying every school with expensive arts

technology and equipment.

Estancia High School would be a good fit, Black said, because of

its award-winning drama and music programs. In addition, the school

can use a four-room visual arts hub and school theater.

Antal, an arts enthusiast, said he’d welcome students from other

districts who are interested in Estancia’s drama and music programs,

as well as its two-dimensional design classes that are offered in a

four-room visual arts hub.

The magnet school idea isn’t without precedent. Orange Coast

Middle College High School educates 90 students who are academically

sound but thrive in a smaller environment, Black said.

Newport Harbor High School also has the academy program, which

offers students emphasis in areas of science and math.

The changes will take significant time. Some, like a magnet

school, may not even be fully realized in the next five years.

As staff members put together the 2005-06 budget, they will use

the strategic plan as a guideline, Brooks said, which the board will

look for when reviewing it.

* JEFF BENSON covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at jeff.benson@latimes.com.