Hollister
– The Magnet School task force has decided to establish the
Hollister School District’s Accelerated Achievement School, a
program for bright and highly motivated students, at Calaveras
Elementary School instead of Ladd Lane.
Hollister – The Magnet School task force has decided to establish the Hollister School District’s Accelerated Achievement School, a program for bright and highly motivated students, at Calaveras Elementary School instead of Ladd Lane.
“There were a lot of reasons we decided to do this. It just makes the most sense,” HSD Director of Instruction Anita Franchi said.
“Magnet Schools” are public schools that tend to focus on one particular subject area or are established with a specific purpose in mind and attract a particular kind of student. Since the 1970s, more than 1,000 magnet schools have been built across the country.
In late July, the HSD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to introduce two new “magnet schools” to the district for the 2007-2008 school year, as an effort to offer families more choice in their children’s public education and entice parents to enroll their children in HSD schools instead of opting for smaller, rural schools or private institutions. Two schools with separate focuses were approved: an accelerated achievement school and a dual immersion school.
Since announcing the district’s intent to begin both programs in earnest next fall, Franchi said parents have been calling nonstop for information as to how to make sure their children have spots in one of the specialized classrooms.
“There’s been a lot more interest than I think we expected, for both programs,” Franchi said. “Which is exciting, but that means we had to make some changes.”
The district promised in October that no students currently enrolled in the district would be displaced from their schools in order to accommodate the magnet programs, at least for the first few years. Had the district decided to keep the accelerated achievement school at Ladd Lane, some displacement would have probably been inevitable.
“The worst thing would have been to make promises that we can’t keep,” Franchi said.
So the task force turned to Calaveras, a school that serves fewer students than Ladd Lane and with more room to expand as more children enroll in the accelerated achievement program.
“This has caused some controversy. Some people like it and some people don’t, but that’s normal,” said Trudy Nicodemus, president of the Calaveras PTA. “We all have a lot of questions at this point.”
Calaveras, however, is a school with its own unique challenges. It has struggled to keep up with other schools in the district on the Academic Performance Index, and its student body is made up of traditionally underserved children. Located on Hollister’s west side, 235 of Calaveras’ roughly 300 students are considered socioeconimically disadvantaged and 180 students are classified as English learners, according to the most recent data available from the California Department of Education.
Franchi says that bringing the accelerated achievement program to Calaveras will help promote diversity in the school community, because campuses hosting magnet school programs will serve kindergarten through eighth-grade students, which is a draw in itself for many families. Currently HSD comprises K-5 schools and two junior highs serving sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. Offering two specialized program at Calaveras could entice families who would normally not consider living on the city’s west side or sending their children to school there.
“I live in that neighborhood and I love it, and there are a lot of well-established families who care about that community,” Franchi said. “Increasing diversity at that school can only benefit everyone.”
The other program, the dual immersion school, will be housed at the Gabilan Hills campus and is designed to ensure that students not only master state curriculum standards, but also are proficient in both Spanish and English by the time they complete the program.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
