Warren officials take another shot at smaller-school funding

The newest application will provide more detail about the plan.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Although it was rejected in the first round of funding to convert to smaller schools, Warren G. Harding High School officials hope the news is brighter next month.
The school didn't receive funding from the KnowledgeWorks Foundation to convert to four smaller high schools in the first round in May, but officials are preparing the application for the round of grant funding in August.
"Primarily, it's more detailed about small schools," said William Mullane, Harding principal, of the latest application due Aug. 4.
The portfolio that will be submitted to KnowledgeWorks focuses on how smaller learning communities will help improve attendance, performance, graduation rates, standardized testing and post-secondary preparation.
"In reading KnowledgeWorks' critique of our [May] application, they got a sense of where we are, but it didn't show we have a real passion for doing something different," the principal said.
About the plan
The idea is to convert the larger high school into four smaller high schools with about 400 students each within the same building. If the district decides to tear down the 1924 high school building and build a new high school as part of an Ohio Schools Facilities Commission project, the four smaller schools would be within the new high school building.
The portfolio won't address the design of the schools, which won't be dealt with until and unless KnowledgeWorks awards the grant.
The design could be small schools each focused on a specific theme such as a school for the arts and another aimed at science, or it could mean a school where the same teachers work with students from ninth through 12th grade.
The design team working on the portfolio meets from 2 to 4 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays in the high school library. The school's Web site at www.warrenharding.com includes progress on the application process and opportunities for community input.
School personnel also have reviewed parts of the application with a representative from KnowledgeWorks to determine which areas needed more work or clarification.
Source of funding
The grants are funded mostly by the Bill & amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ohio Department of Education, and KnowledgeWorks, a foundation in Cincinnati that helps to finance education initiatives in Ohio.
Harding was one of 44 urban schools across Ohio that received initial funding last fall to study the conversion. Youngstown also was among the 44, competing as a school district rather than an individual school, and received the grant in the first round.
The Warren district received a $185,000 grant in October for professional development of a plan to improve achievement and graduation rates at the high school.
The application is still being developed, but an introduction is available on the school's Web site. It talks of the use of mentorships to extend learning into the community and "looks beyond the traditional notion of passing and failing."
Smaller schools would aid an effort to provide more support and instruction for students who need more help, the introduction says.
denise.dick@vindy.com