Three Syracuse schools, under state orders to transform themselves, will start the new year having undergone some of the biggest changes ever in city schools. Delaware Elementary and Hughes K-7 have new principals. Fowler High School’s principal was allowed to stay because he’s been at the school less than two years. Every teacher at the three schools had to...
Melanie Cifonelli (center) and Sharon Pernisi (right) coach the Fowler High School "Formative Assessment Training" class Monday for teachers and staff. Three Syracuse schools, under state orders to transform themselves, will start the new year having undergone some of the biggest changes ever in city schools.
Delaware Elementary and Hughes K-7 have new principals. Fowler High School’s principal was allowed to stay because he’s been at the school less than two years.
Every teacher at the three schools had to reapply for his or her job to keep it, or could request a transfer to another Syracuse school. Some teachers who reapplied didn’t make the cut. Teams of teachers and administrators at each school did the hiring, a job usually left to central office and the principal. The same teams devised plans to transform the schools.
The schools were among 57 designated in January by the state Education Department as “persistently lowest achieving.” The state required those schools to develop a plan using one of four models from the U.S. Department of Education.
Syracuse was the first district to submit its plans to the state education department and last week became the first in the state to receive a grant to carry them out, said Jonathan Burman, speaking for the state education department.
Syracuse will receive $6 million in federal money funneled through the state — $2 million per school. It is eligible for two more years of funding if the schools improve.
The challenge is enormous. Take Fowler, a Near West Side school with a high level of student poverty. Its graduation rate is about 33 percent, and 80 percent of its incoming ninth-graders read two years below grade level.
The district has been ordered to remake low achieving schools before with mixed results. Achievement would rise in the short term, then drop again after a couple years. The district has removed principals, changed teaching tactics, provided extra staff.
After years of trying at Shea Middle, teachers had to reapply for jobs in 2003, which was unprecedented in Syracuse. But, Shea, another high-poverty, Near West Side school, could not hit the state mark. In 2006 the state told the district to close the school.
In the case of Shea, the district neither created a system to support new methods of instruction nor received the support it needed for students and families with high needs, Syracuse Deputy Superintendent Chris Vogelsang said. This time, support is in place, in part because of Say Yes to Education, she said.
Say Yes is a national nonprofit organization working with the district to improve its schools. It has provided money and resources, in partnership with, among others, the district, the city and Syracuse University for after-school programs, a summer camp, social workers, free legal clinics for families and other support.
View full sizeFowler High School Principal James Palumbo sits in Monday on the "Formative Assessment Training" class for teachers and staff. Achievement at three Syracuse schools has been low for so long that the state ordered them to be completely reworked. Two principals were removed. Staff had to reapply for jobs; teachers were evaluated in part based on student performance. Major changes took place at Fowler High, Delaware Elementary and Hughes K-7. In years past, the district didn’t have Say Yes when it restructured a failing school. The district also is trying other things it hasn’t attempted before.
Delaware, Hughes and Fowler are among the first schools in the state that will evaluate teachers in part on how well students do. It is a new state requirement, but will be phased in elsewhere.
The district gave teachers a voice in the school redesign, Syracuse Teachers Association President Kevin Ahern said.
“Part of the idea of transforming schools is to change the culture, and I think with teacher involvement that’s possible. If it’s top down, that’s not possible,” Ahern said.
For the first time, district officials said, teachers and principals will have a range of student data at their fingertips via a computerized “data dashboard.” They can use that information to provide individualized instruction.
Teachers who stayed at the three schools agreed to the many changes, including mandatory professional development outside of school hours that they get paid for. They’ve received a range of extra training this summer.
School redesign teams laid out the expectations for the staffers and let them know they would be held accountable, Vogelsang said.
All three schools have extra staff, including attendance assistants who will reach out to families when children aren’t in school.
At Fowler, staff members created an individual learning plan for every freshman and sophomore, Principal Jim Palumbo said. The school will get a literacy coach and its first full-time social worker in years, and other staff targeted to address needs identified by the redesign.
Hughes gained two extra literacy coaches, an extra computer classroom and a two-hour after-school program, among other resources. Teachers will write lessons together, watch one another teach and supply feedback. The new principal at Hughes is Theresa Haley.
At Delaware, the new principal is Milagros Escalera, who served as the principal there for about 11 years, ending in 2004. Delaware has become an “Expeditionary Learning” school, which is a national program that integrates subjects into a hands-on unit and students get involved with the community, Vogelsang said.
The state expects to see improvement at schools within three years.
“We want to make this work,” Fowler’s Palumbo said.
But he sees challenges to student achievement far beyond school.
Changing principals and teachers, or pouring money into schools for a couple of years, doesn’t make a lasting difference, Palumbo said.
Neighborhood poverty needs to be addressed, he said. Children need to be reached early to do well in school, he said. That’s why he is excited about Say Yes.
“The things that they are working on to do — early intervention with elementary and intermediate students — is incredible. That’s the route to go. The extra time they’re spending in school, the extended school year. That’s what’s going to have a long-term effect,” he said. “That changes the culture surrounding education in the community.
Contact Maureen Nolan 470-2185 or mnolan@syracuse.com