Honig Praises Rogers School Restructuring

California Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig visited Will Rogers Elementary School in Santa Monica on Wednesday, calling it Southern California’s best example of what can be accomplished in the new movement in education called restructuring.

“This is what schools in the future are going to be like,” Honig said at a press conference in the school auditorium. “What we’re struggling with is how to get other people to take the example.”

Rogers Elementary was one of 138 schools that won a Demonstration of Restructuring in Public Education grant this summer from the state. The school’s $500,000 award will be used to implement a comprehensive, five-year restructuring program developed by the Will Rogers staff, students and community members. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District staff and board members also participated in developing the plan.

The grant was funded by legisation passed in 1990 making $11.6 million available to restructure educational institutions to better prepare students to compete in a global economy. The bill was backed by the the California Business Roundtable, a group of business executives from 100 major California corporations.

“The kinds of things kids need as they exit a school system are much greater than they were 20 to 25 years ago,” said Will Rogers Principal Juli DiChiro. Today’s students must learn how to work in teams, communicate effectively and solve real-life problems, she said.

Parts of the restructuring plan, which took two years to develop, have already been implemented. Using computers, students keep electronic portfolios of their work. They also participate in interactive math and science programs via satellite.

DiChiro said the restructuring plan at Will Rogers, as at all schools that won grants over the summer, follows the premise that all students, including low achievers, must meet high educational standards. The curriculum should be rich and meaningful, she said, and should be delivered in a variety of ways. Finally, the plan requires that the community be drawn into school activities.

“There is an African proverb that says it takes a whole village to educate one child,” DiChiro said.

One innovative teaching method used at Rogers is the concept of “tribes.” Students from kindergarten through fifth grade are grouped into tribes and teamed with specific teachers. Students stay with the same group for their entire time at Will Rogers. The teachers designated as tribe leaders serve as mentors and as the liaisons between the students’ families and the school.

“Tribes are a way to build group communication and interconnectedness,” DiChiro said.

Classrooms at Will Rogers are markedly noisier than traditional classrooms as children work together on assignments. When possible, teachers are encouraged to seat students in circles to stimulate interaction.

“When you get emotional bonds at school, you get a higher performance,” Honig said while touring classrooms. “Other countries do that, but we traditionally have not.”

The state grant to Will Rogers provides $100,000 annually for five years. In future years, the money will be used to help set up a parent education program and to establish a program in which students will work on community service projects.

Other innovations proposed by grant-winning schools include requiring principals, vice principals and counselors to teach classes, thereby reducing class size. O’Farrel Community School in San Diego replaced its administrators with a single “CEO,” for chief educational officer. Students at Oceana High School in San Mateo County must complete 100 hours of community service to graduate.

Will Rogers parent Maria Vasquez said the community is taking an active role in the restructuring program. Her main concern, she said, is to ensure that the needs of students with limited English proficiency, about 45% of the enrollment, are fully addressed.

Vasquez participates in the school congress, where teachers and staff meet with community members to discuss educational programs and finances.

“We actually have a part in the decision-making at the school,” she said.

The Will Rogers student body is 48% Latino, 35% Anglo and 13% African-American, according to DiChiro. Many of the students come from low-income families.