Observed August 3rd through 5th Visiting Bayside Elementary was impactful being that demographically it was so much different from Rowe School in Rancho Santa Fe School District. Principal Kevin Coordt allowed me to shadow him for three days during the second week of school. Like Dr. Brockett at Aviara Oaks Elementary, my first school visit site, it was Kevin’s second year at Bayside. He was brought in after his predecessor had been reassigned to a teaching position at another school in South Bay Union School District. This school had traditionally been the lowest performing of the eleven schools in the district, and had faced significant pushback from staff regarding unfair business practices with grievances filed through the union. The average tenure at Bayside is relatively high, with low turnover, which apparently is unusual for a low-performing school. It would suggest, but not necessarily be evidence of, a degree of complacency, or acceptance of a dire situation. Mr. Coordt was brought in with the intention that he could revive staff morale with his energy and a focus on invigorating pedagogy. Currently the idea, introduced with great effect, was to incorporate small group teaching into the day. Kevin leads the school without the support of an assistant principal, relying heavily on a coordinated effort from his front office Assistant to the Principal, and an Academic Coach both of whom are phenomenal. He has recently implemented practices from a recent training called “BreakThrough Coaching” with transformative benefits both operationally and personally. The school mission, to which everyone I encountered from custodial and lunchroom staff, teachers, and of course administrators, was vigorously committed, is as follows: Bayside staff motivates and inspires students to reach their full potential both academically and socially in a safe and stimulating learning environment. (SARC, 2014). This school is not without its challenges, chief among them poverty. 98% of the school population qualifies for Title I afforded free breakfast and lunch. At this school, no cards are punched in the lunch line since almost everyone qualifies, and it would cost more in time and administrative paperwork to track free meal participation. 80% of the population is considered socioeconomically disadvantaged. Bayside is currently almost at maximum enrollment especially on the upper end where classroom sizes have edged over 30 -- in one instance siblings had to be separated with a fourth grader admitted, and the sixth-grade sibling placed at another district school. There are about 535 students from TK (Transitional Kindergarten) through 6th grade. One difficulty is that the community does not with consistency enroll kids in preschool -- for some students, kindergarten is their first experience in a school setting. Many students do not have a sense of being in a group separate from parents, nor a developed sense of story from books, and do not have letter sounds, or standard pencil grips. The school starts from behind, placing an extreme strain on the teaching staff, and an arguably unreasonable expectation as it regards API & CAASPP test scores. Nevertheless, they are preparing the students to show competency on these metrics as they cannot afford to lose the money tied to tests. The site was clean and well kept, however there seemed an abundance of portables, which unnervingly were kept locked to complement bars on the windows. Access to inside was by key only. Although every effort was made to secure the campus, teachers routinely took a posture that suggested the school was in a lockdown status. Clearly they did not feel safe in the community, or despite changed circumstances, were stuck in old routines. Demographically, 82% of the population was Hispanic or Latino, 6% white, and 3% black, with 60% of the student body being English Learners. This does put in place an interesting schedule strain when the school is to meet its CELDT instruction state required 30 minutes, which it satisfies after lunch when the entire school shifts. To say the least it was unnerving to see the non-CELDT kids engaged in an enrichment group that appeared decidedly fairer-complected than the usual classroom. About 12% of Bayside kids are considered students with disabilities; about 2% are also homeless and foster kids. All 28 of the fully credentialed teachers struggle with CAASPP testing results with 14% and 13% meeting or exceeding Math and ELA standards respectively. These are hardship results, representing a difficult situation for student, teacher, administrator, and parent combined. Interestingly, Bayside students recently placed 3rd in a robotics competition which is a reflection of their grit, comfort with struggle, innovation, and creative problem-solving skills. Tony Wagner would be proud! These students can compete with much higher API producing schools. I wonder what would happen if the school was funded equitably, and the kids given a chance to see themselves as productive, successful, and fulfilled members of society? Fifth graders relative to AOMS students were not fit: only 46% of the kids scored 4 or higher, 11% being a perfect 6. This compared to AOMS 93% fitness score of 4-6. Again, Bayside is starting from behind. The suspension rate is 1.7 and falling, as the students are responding well to Mr. Coordt’s emphasis on respectfully being a “peacemaker.” Although the school is next year set to be 2-1 in grades 5&6 for Chromebooks, currently access to the internet happens through computers on carts and a 20 computer technology lab. My experience with South Bay District began, interestingly enough, at a Professional Development session for principals with the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Cindy Wagner. This was quite a coup, almost like a look behind the curtain, so to speak -- principals being guided on how to contend with current issues they are encountering in the field. The primary discussion centered on the need to build trust with staff. By creating environments where staff can take risks without repercussion, or more precisely perceived repercussions, they are likely to embrace opportunities to experiment and grow. New methods, like those advanced by Lucy Calkins in her workshop model through Columbia Teachers College, would seem less of a stretch and more an occasion to develop new skills and allow the kids to expand their set of competencies. Following the group work, the nuts-and-bolts topic of discussion turned to developing PLC’s on teams, and what right the principals had to the time set aside. The Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Kim, was also there for guidance, and she advised backing off -- anything less, she added, would result in grievances being filed through the union. This was really interesting, because it struck me that some principals were having trouble letting go of controlling the collaboration time whose agenda was supposed to be determined by the team PLC. There was a lot of angst about leaving the team alone, for fear that teachers would either work individually getting other things done, or use the time inappropriately to “get things copied or graded” -- essentially they did not trust the very people they wanted to develop team trust. Other principals were okay to loosen the reins and hold teams responsible for work completed, and not micromanage when they did it, although they did have a right to insist that in order to collaborate, the team should be together in the same gathering space. Getting to Bayside meant driving one hour, or 45 miles away from Rancho Santa Fe, almost to the Mexican border, and as such the neighborhood was significantly different to what I had grown accustomed. Homes were tidy, but modest, and bars on the windows gave evidence of past or present crime. I understood later that the area had overcome challenges with methamphetamines. However, once upon Bayside’s grounds, I was pleased to find the school well maintained and the attitude was welcoming and warm from kids, teachers and parents alike. Right away I could feel that my “Bayside Temporary Staff” brought me a respect that was not as generously shared at my home school albeit bathed in affluence. After introducing me to front office staff, we headed to monitor lunch in the cafeteria covered eating area. With new systems in place, Kevin wanted to be present to answer questions and give the kids direction in an effort of keeping the calm. He correctly anticipated some wildness as kids lined up waiting for teachers to take them from the auditorium to recess. It made me wonder if such tight supervision was necessary for 5th and 6th graders, however he explained that the transition and exchange of spaces had led to some pushing, which further led to fist fights, and he had a choice to either avoid them here, or deal with them in the office. The paperwork, parent phone calls, and in-school suspensions, were far too exhausting to contend with, so being out and about was a much smarter option. The school, he said, had been plagued with suspensions, and his intention was to rework the culture of the school with kids, teachers, and parents who had all grown used to a “bigger hammer” approach to discipline. This had led to low expectations as it concerned behavior, followed by amped up punishment to curb the poor choices. Being an early dismissal day, the kindergarten was dismissed at 12:50 and the balance of the students at 1:25. Kevin and I went to help with the kindergarteners leaving, because a new system had been implemented, as this was only the second week of school. The kids seemed to know what to do, following the teacher directions to sit in line. The parents, however, were not very open to being retrained, and some were trying to enter the school early through a gate opened by the custodial staff. This confused some students, and led to a little chaos as kids went to their parents. Kevin explained that the week prior, a four-year-old from TK had opened the gate, left the school grounds, and while heading for home, was seen wandering by the police and returned to the campus. The child’s parents, while accepting the school’s apology, was concerned for his safety and had pulled him out of school until different measures had been put into place. Every effort was being made to secure the campus, reorganize entry to and exit from school grounds, and simultaneously minimize the likelihood of being sued. With the 1:25 bell, we headed to the area where buses were waiting. Kevin commented on how perfect it was that the buses were on time. Students showed up with bus passes that had bar codes on them; kids needed to be directed to the correct bus, and scanned their pass. I asked if the scanner would signal to the kid that they were on the wrong bus, and told no -- this I asked because the kids were impossibly small, and it was hard to rely on their knowledge of which bus stop was correct. Apparently, parents could use a GPS system to track where there kid was based on having scanned onto the bus. What would happen if a second kid were “lost” for even a half hour in the second week of school? The staff meeting that followed provided a glimpse of staff culture. Kevin used raffle tickets given to each teacher as they entered the room, in an effort, he said to get people in on time. When it was 2:00 he welcomed everyone saying that he wanted to start on time so he could respect their time and let them leave when they expected. Sincere applause welcomed the winner of the drawing who received a gift card of some sort. The meeting continued on a very positive note when Kevin called attention to the freshly released CAASP scores showing that Bayside, which he said had been looked at to have locked up the bottom place, had leapfrogged two other schools because of higher than district average growth percentages. It was a cool moment to see teachers link up their small-group work last year to better student performance. The Academic Coach who was manning the presentation beamed also. Clearly the school wanted to build on its hard earned momentum. When I arrived on Day 2, Kevin explained that today would be a coaching day. He explained that he was implementing what had been for him a revolutionary training: BreakThrough Coaching. Essentially, he was supposed to be a principal that spent as much time as possible out of his office, even giving up his desk! He had coordinated with his Assistant to have three days in the office, and two days out and about in classrooms and interacting with personnel, kids, and parents as he moved about the campus. This training had a “quality of life” perspective: Kevin was supposed to leave campus when his secretary did. He explained that not only did he now have time to coach his daughter’s soccer team, but he was still able to take care of “technical” paperwork and emails. By cruising the campus and checking in with everyone, not only was he able to connect with what the kids were learning, and in so doing forge meaningful relationships with them, but teachers realized he actually cared about what they did in the classrooms. This also made him more approachable to staff, who in a quick two minute talk, could share needs and get questions answered. This, Kevin said, had cut his desk appointments in half. Just like behavior issues, he could choose to deal with them low scale, or wait until they blew up into his office costing him time and precious energy. Most principals, he reported, died within seven years of retirement; he didn’t want to be one of those. This was truly impactful, as it had allowed him to get things done well and take care of building a culture of compassion -- he on several occasions referred to kids using words to solve problems, and being good peacemakers. During morning announcements, eighth graders managed giving out pencils with little “praise-maker” certificates and green wristbands which kids wore proudly showing that they were responsible, that month’s character trait focus. It was remarkable to see how important the kids valued the terminology and reinforcements -- you could almost see the school culture grow warmer, even through the difficult moments. Kevin’s work was inspirational; from his cruising campus as an instructional leader, building relationships, preventing without punishing by being seen, to his “Kid Whisperer” work with young Manuel who absolutely melted down and started violently destroying his kindergarten room, because it was only his second day EVER in school. We went into the room with him, the RSP teacher joined us to wait him out as he calmed down, and then modified his dismissal time. When Mom returned at lunch he calmly ate with her. Sadly, however, they did not bring him back to school the following day which will probably all but nullify our progress. I say “our” because in so short a time, Bayside and all those beautiful, very needy children became mine too. Resources: (2014). South Bay Union Elementary: School Accountability Report Cards ... Retrieved August 7, 2016, from http://www.sbusd.org/pages/SouthBayUnion/About_Us/School_Accountability_Report_C.
0 Comments
|
AuthorIn service of Education... ArchivesCategories |