Small high school program
The Governor mentioned the 21st Century Schools Fund to help schools create small high schools. She didn't go into a lot of detail, but I can add a little bit more.
What would be set up is a fund for schools to tap into help set up small high school models within existing districts and likely within existing schools. It would only go to districts where a specific high school hasn't made AYP for at least two years. If your district qualifies under this, you would be eligilbe to recieve planning grants of up to $2 million to set up a small high school with 400-600 kids. You could make it theme-oriented, college prep, middle college-oriented, subject-oriented, or create other options. The building principal would be given great autonomy related to budget and staffing with the thought that a strong builiding leader makes for a stronger team in the building. They would also have an opportunity with matching grants locally to apply for up to $8 million for facility/infrastructure needs at the building level.
I have been in both North Carolina and Chicago and have seen the small high school model and talked to the kids. It's pretty amazing how engaged these kids are. In the schools that I visited, the student population wasn't just the "best and the brightest", but a great cross section with most of the students coming from a population of kids that were at-risk of dropping out. The relevance and relationships were very apparent in the schools, and most had a high level curriculum.
This is clearly not the final version and is subject to many changes, but what do you think?
What would be set up is a fund for schools to tap into help set up small high school models within existing districts and likely within existing schools. It would only go to districts where a specific high school hasn't made AYP for at least two years. If your district qualifies under this, you would be eligilbe to recieve planning grants of up to $2 million to set up a small high school with 400-600 kids. You could make it theme-oriented, college prep, middle college-oriented, subject-oriented, or create other options. The building principal would be given great autonomy related to budget and staffing with the thought that a strong builiding leader makes for a stronger team in the building. They would also have an opportunity with matching grants locally to apply for up to $8 million for facility/infrastructure needs at the building level.
I have been in both North Carolina and Chicago and have seen the small high school model and talked to the kids. It's pretty amazing how engaged these kids are. In the schools that I visited, the student population wasn't just the "best and the brightest", but a great cross section with most of the students coming from a population of kids that were at-risk of dropping out. The relevance and relationships were very apparent in the schools, and most had a high level curriculum.
This is clearly not the final version and is subject to many changes, but what do you think?
