YOUNGSTOWN Grant will change way high school operates

Funds will be used for staff development, and curriculum and instruction items.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Groups of 15 students will be shepherded by an adviser from ninth grade through graduation.
Teachers will determine how time is spent.
There are no principals.
Graduates can go to Ivy League schools or any other destination they choose.
It may sound like a dream, but Youngstown city schools administrators say this is the reality of what the city's high schools will become with the help of a $2 million Ohio High School Transformation Initiative grant from the KnowledgeWorks Foundation public education philanthropy.
"Think of the best possible school environment you could imagine -- where all the adults in the building don't feel successful unless all the kids are successful, the kind of school where we would want our own kids to be," said Kathleen O'Connell Sauline, the district's supervisor of libraries and media, who was on a team that wrote a grant application.
KnowledgeWorks officials announced the award Tuesday at the district administration building amid the cheers and applause of teachers, staff, administrators, board members and other community supporters.
Other details
It is the largest of the eight grants awarded across the state by the Cincinnatti-based foundation. Funds come primarily from the foundation, the Bill & amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. and Ohio departments of education and the Ford Foundation.
Youngstown's three high schools -- Chaney, Rayen and Wilson -- received the grant together. The schools stand alone in receiving the award as a full district in the state.
The goal is to have three smaller "communities" of no more than 400 students in each high school. Each would have its own dean, but no principals.
Funds will be used to train administrators and teachers and to purchase curriculum design and instructional materials, to create communications with the community and for student-centered activities.
Training will begin in the fall and last about a year, said John Tullio, a district administrative specialist who is the team leader for the project. If training is complete, the plan will be implemented in the three schools beginning in fall 2004.
It will continue when the number of high schools is reduced by two through the Youngstown schools construction project.
Sauline said the groups of 15 students will be mentored by an adviser who could be a teacher, counselor, secretary or any other adult in the school community. She said she doesn't expect that it will mean hiring more people.
She said it is difficult to say what a typical day would be like because teachers will use creative scheduling to meet the needs of the students with whom they interact. The transformation means a "change in the concept" of education, which could even lead to after-school or weekend programs.
How this will work
Teachers will have resources available to help them plan, and time will be set aside for them to work with an instructional leader, Sauline said. Oversight will be provided by deans who report to the superintendent through an administrative specialist serving as liaison.
"It is the students that provided the impetus to do this," said Superintendent Benjamin L. McGee . "It is because of their untapped capabilities that we need to do this work, and we need to do it well and we need to do it long."
Patty Conley, chief operating officer at KnowledgeWorks, said these are the first such grants awarded by the group. Research and design grants were given to 42 schools in 17 districts in March 2002 -- the eight grants were chosen from that pool.
The philosophy behind the transformation initiative is that "learning is essentially all about relationships -- about making connections among people, places, resources and ideas," according to KnowledgeWorks materials.
The group aims to promote a personalized education for every child that allows the opportunity to excel in a rigorous curriculum that shows the relevance of topics learned.
viviano@vindy.com