Discussion on “theme” schools continued during the Warsaw School Board meeting Monday night. One parent showed up to the meeting to ask questions and share concerns. On Nov. 20, the board heard proposals for Jefferson Elementary to become a leadership academy; Eisenhower Elementary to become a fine arts academy; and Claypool to become a Leadership Environment Academics Performance (LEAP) Academy and Early Learning Center. No action on the proposals is being considered at this time. Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz started Monday’s conversation by stating the idea of theme, or focus, schools came from the 2010 OrthoWorx-funded Cambridge Study on the school system. He said a focus for a neighborhood school would serve what Warsaw Schools is about. It can provide viable curriculum to all students and lets schools deliver a focus families are interested in, he said. Recently, the Indiana Department of Education released information stating enrollment in Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program more than doubled in its second year. For 2012-13, the IDOE reported there were 19 students from Warsaw Community Schools participating in the program who were eligible from the previous year’s program or who had attended a public school. Hintz said tuition dollars from the state follows students. WCS gets approximately $5,400 for each student, so with 19 students using the voucher program to go elsewhere, WCS loses more than $1 million over the course of the education of those students. “I believe more than ever before, schools are competing for dollars,” Hintz said. “I believe if they are done properly, a theme or focus school is exciting for our board to consider.” Chief Academics Officer David Hoffert said Washington Elementary was WCS’s first theme school when it became a science, technology, engineering and math academy. At that point, the other elementary and middle schools were asked to consider a theme. If a school does become a focus school, Hoffert said WCS and state curriculum will stay in place. “These are no magnet schools,” Hoffert assured. They are neighborhood schools. One thing school board vice president Matt Dick took from last week’s meeting on theme schools, he said, was when Eisenhower Principal Chris Gensinger said he would not compromise the core curriculum. Dick said he understood the other school principals and staff were on board with that, too. Jennifer Tandy, board president, asked teachers and administrators present how they would see their day change if theme schools were implemented. Jefferson Principal David Robertson said it was something they had to learn to balance and they’ve talked about different possibilities. Scott McClintock, teacher, said teachers are coming up with so many ideas for the theme schools that they won’t be able to do them all. One of the board’s biggest concerns is the additional work teachers will have with theme schools, Dick said, noting that Teachers’ plates are already full. Kris Bonifield said theme schools will allow teachers to become experts in a field. It will allow them to have leadership and passion as teachers. The fun and excitement is coming out, and teachers want this for their kids as well as themselves. All the theme school ideas came with requests for a coach or director. Does a theme school coach mean the difference between success and failure? Tandy asked. “It will help,” McClintock responded. A leadership coach will help Jefferson in ways not having one won’t, Robertson answered. Dan Metzger, board secretary, said he was a “hands-on” learner. The one thing he learned looking at the proposals is that all the academies would be hands-on, he said. Parent Miechi Petro had reservations about the theme schools. She had concerns about the core curriculum. While it was said the schools would stay on top of it, she said she continously hears from teachers it’s hard to get through the day as it is with what they have. “It does come down to reading, writing and arithmetic,” she said. “That’s how schools will advance.” She also was concerned about school segregation, meaning one school would get more funding or attention than the other schools. Petro expressed concern about neighborhood schools and recruiting. “How does Eisenhower become a fine arts academy?” Petro asked. “I think the private sector does that very well and we don’t need to pour money into that.” Exceptionalism, she said, comes from the work students do outside of class. “Parents’ hope for educators is that they facilitate information to our students,” she said. During discussion on theme schools, Petro said she never heard anything about how all the schools are made more accessible to parents. “Excellence is achieved by hard work outside the classroom and parent involvement,” she said, and that shouldn’t be minimized. Board member Christie Gale agreed that it’s a challenge, but said the more educational opportunities and fun afforded to kids, the better. Bonifield said, for Eisenhower, the committee’s goal is to expose all students to fine arts opportunities so they have the chance to follow their dreams. Kids can be taught things like fractions with music. Each theme school will teach fractions, but the way they teach them will look a little different. “The core curriculum doesn’t go away, it just looks a little different,” she said. “It’s about fractions and math, but also teaching kids to be problem solvers and follow their dreams,” Claypool Principal Melissa Rees said. “We want to make sure we’re scaffolding their learning from preschool to sixth grade.” Metzger pointed out that not all parents are actively involved in their student’s education as Petro is. Not all students can afford lessons outside of the classroom.
