Two campuses to house K-8 schools
Hollister school district is moving forward with a new
educational program that will not only give students more choice in
learning, but may also give private schools a run for their
money.
Two campuses to house K-8 schools
Hollister school district is moving forward with a new educational program that will not only give students more choice in learning, but may also give private schools a run for their money.
Last week the Hollister School District Board of Trustees voted to introduce two new “magnet schools” to the district for the 2007-2008 school year. It’s a move that district officials are hopeful will offer families more choice.
“Magnet schools” are public schools that tend to focus on one particular subject area or are established with a specific purpose and attract a particular kind of student. Since the ’70s more than 1,000 magnet schools have been built across the country.
Superintendent Ron Crates is positive that the schools will have a certain polarity about them.
“It’s just like a magnet, there’s an attraction. It gives parents a choice around themes,” Crates said.
Each of the two magnet schools will have a separate focus. The first is Dual Immersion School, which will be located at the Gabilan Hills campus. It is designed to ensure that students not only conquer state standards, but also are proficient in both Spanish and English by the time they complete the program.
“Ideally one-third of the students will be Spanish speakers, one-third English- only and one-third bilingual, so they can learn from each other,” Crates said.
The other aspect of the language immersion school is that the students will start learning in kindergarten and continue through eighth grade. Students and parents will be required to commit themselves to the program since students cannot enter after attending another school, said Angela Hagins, one of the parents who was involved with the magnet school steering committee.
Hagins and the other committee members studied other school districts with magnet schools to see how they have handled them. One of the districts the committee looked at was Redwood City, which currently has 17 schools, each with a different magnet theme.
The Accelerated Achievement School will be located at the Ladd Lane campus. It is designed for students with academic potential and self-discipline. The curriculum is taught at a faster pace than in regular classes, leaving more time for advanced work and in-depth projects.
The Accelerated Achievement School will attract the students who were previously enrolled in the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) programs and reach them on a more extensive level. However, there will still be a GATE program.
“The Accelerated Achievement School will offer staff that are better trained to handle educating these students, but we will still continue the GATE program, because many of the students who might qualify for the Accelerated Achievement School may rather stay in their neighborhood school,” Crates said.
By offering specialized options, the district staff hopes to attract families whose children are currently enrolled in private school, or those who are considering other districts for when their children are old enough to register for school.
One of the schools that could be affected by the introduction of magnet schools is Calvary Christian Academy. Calvary Principal Walt Lindquist said that he hadn’t heard anything about the magnet schools so he was not sure how his school might stand to be affected; however, he wasn’t really worried since he said that on top of the strong academics the school emphasizes the spiritual life of the students.
“For students who live in the district who want to attend private schools we wanted them to have the opportunity to go here. Private schools certainly still have their place, but we wanted parents to have a choice,” Crates said.
The magnet schools will be operated separately from their host schools with different staff and administration, sharing only facilities. The new schools will use existing buildings.
Educators hope that 350-400 students will enroll in each program, promoting a small school environment at both the magnet and mainstream schools.
“We really find that parents are more comfortable with a K-8 environment, since the students all stay with their friends and teachers know the students. There will still be a place for the middle schools, the K-8s won’t offer large sports and band programs, but parents and students will have a choice,” Crates said.
Hollister School District has not yet established what entry criteria may be imposed for enrollment in the magnet schools.
Gilroy Unified School District attempted magnet schools several years ago, but has since switched to neighborhood schools with the exception of Las Animas Elementary School, which has remained as a dual immersion school.
The dual immersion schools have been very successful, said GUSD Superintendent Edwin Diaz. In fact, the district is expanding the program to South Valley Middle School this fall.
“I think the program is very popular with the students. Performance results in language arts, writing and math are very strong in both languages. The level of parent participation is also very high,” Diaz said.
Hollister officials believe the new programs will be relatively inexpensive to implement, as the schools will use pre-existing facilities. However, curricula must be developed and staff will require special training, which could cost $20,000, but complete costs have yet to be calculated. It is also unclear how many additional teachers may have to be hired.
The formation of the two magnet schools will dramatically reshape the district. Both magnet schools will serve students in grades K-8, whereas currently the district only has K-5 grade schools and two 6-8 junior high schools. The plan is for the district to evolve over several years to include four K-8 schools, four K-5 schools and two middle schools.
