Providence public school principals - four conversations for snow day reading

Hello, snow day! Before the dual demands of the day--productively occupying my kids while staying productive at work--commence, it's time for a much-overdue blog update.

During the fall and winter of 2013-4, I wrote about the East Side's public schools for East Side Monthly, focusing on the principals of each school. Here's the full line-up:

Kim Luca, Nathan Bishop Middle School (October, 2013)

Tamara Sterling, Hope High School (November 2013)

Kristen Mercurio Lussier, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School (January 2013)

Susan Stambler, Vartan Gregorian Elementary School (February 2013)

Here on the blog, I've already featured the interview with Ms. Sterling, and will do so with the other three in the coming days.

My intention for the ESM  pieces is to keep the opportunities and concerns of public education at the forefront of conversation in Providence, and the specific intention of these features was to remind ESM's readers that we have four vibrant public school options close at hand. On a practical basis, with the limited time I have to write these pieces, an interview with the principal allows a schoolwide perspective and insight into the schools' direction. 

These four principals have more than geography in common. All are women, which is consistent with a trend of increasing numbers of female school principals nationwide (though, according to this research from RAND, the rates of promotion to principal are still higher for men (and yes, these data are dated, but I couldn't find a more recent study, at least not at this moment while the snow day clock is ticking)). All are also fairly new on the job, with two or fewer years in their current position--though their experience levels vary widely, ranging from a first-time principal to a principal with many years of administrative experience. This was consistent with principal tenure at schools serving disadvantaged populations, which tend to have high principal turnover; on average, principals serve fewer than three years (Center for Public Education). I hope that all four principals break that trend and choose to/are able to stay on the job so that their school communities can feel the impact of their thoughtful, collaborative leadership.

It was a real pleasure to meet all of these school leaders, and I was grateful for their time. 

Hope High School's New Principal, Tamara Sterling - November 2013 East Side Monthly

This month's East Side Monthly features a chat that I had with Tamara Sterling, the new(ish) principal of Hope High School. The piece is online here, and I've reproduced it below.

I really enjoyed our conversation, which I had to shorten up quite a bit. I appreciated Ms. Sterling's perspective as a newcomer to Providence and think that Hope and PPSD will benefit from her fresh take.

Great Expectations for Hope High's New Principal: Tamara Sterling brings a fresh perspective to a unique set of challenges

Ms. Sterling at Hope High School - photo by Amy Amerantes

Founded in 1898, Hope High School is the oldest public school on the East Side. Recent reforms intended to raise graduation rates and other indicators of student achievement – particularly the most recent major state-initiated restructuring in which the school was divided into three small schools – have shown promise but were interrupted before they could show lasting results. Hope is now reconsolidated into one school with 915 students.

This year, 74% of Hope High School’s students are economically challenged, as indicated by their eligibility for free and reduced lunch. Twenty-six percent receive special education services, and 15% are English language learners. In 2012, Hope’s graduation rate was 73% – not the lowest in Providence, but not nearly where it needs to be, says Hope High School’s recently appointed principal Tamara Sterling. I recently chatted with Ms. Sterling to get her take on what’s next for Hope High School.

What brought you to Providence?
I became interested in Providence in 2011, when the teacher layoffs here became national news. I wanted to come to Providence because as a transformational leader, Providence felt like a place where I could make a difference. I am now in my second year here. Before moving to Providence, I had worked in Houston, which is where I am from, and Chicago, moving from teacher to principal.

What did you notice when you first arrived?
I noticed immediately that while the data told a story, that Providence is one of the lowest-performing districts in the state, there was a desire for adults to do more for children and for children to do more for themselves. No one was sitting back. Everyone was asking themselves what can we do to make this work? Of course, I also noticed that our dropout rate was more than 20%. I have not ever worked at a school that lost kids in double digits. That’s nearly a whole grade. Where did they go? Why is the graduation rate so low?

Tell me about the approach you took with Hope, considering its dramatic history of change.
I spent the first half of last year observing and learning. I met with all of the teachers and asked them to tell me about their experience of Hope High School, the good, the bad and the ugly. I learned that they valued the small learning communities that Hope had, so during the second half of the year, we asked ourselves, “How can we make this work with our new redesign?” We now have four learning communities divided by grade level: a freshman academy with two houses of 192 students each, and then sophomore, junior and senior houses. The freshmen are together in one centralized area and have their own lunch, teachers, electives and everything else. Our focus with them is on personalization, time management and honing skills. We thought a lot about how we would support our students to stay on track, knowing that if they are successful in ninth grade, they will be more likely to graduate. Those teachers in each freshman academy house have autonomy, the ownership of running their academy. So far, I think it is going extremely well.

Why is autonomy important?
It’s important that the teachers feel empowered. When they influence what happens in their academies, when they come to school to do more than teach, their experience changes. This is a culture shift for the school. It’s all about student achievement and support, and the students buying into it. They understand that it’s important to be here, that Hope is their school, that they take ownership and pride – that they have hope. They are not coming late to school, and daily attendance is up 10%. We’re seeing some immediate benefits.

What’s your message to the community?
We want people to come inside. Come walk the halls with us and feel what it’s like to be a Blue Waver. It’s also our job to make sure that the Hope spirit goes out. Students have to do individual community service projects and a grade-level service-learning project, and those will be meaningful. We’ll be out there representing Hope with pride and making an impact. Most importantly, as we’re going through this transformation, we want the community to sit at the table. We want people who are planning to send their kids to Hope to join us as we plan for the future. I love these students. I have never worked with such a diverse population of students who want the best for themselves. I believe that high school can be one of the best times of your life as you prepare for adulthood, and I am grateful and proud to be part of their world.

Hope High School Alumni Association in August East Side Monthly

My August East Side Monthly column on the Hope High School Alumni Association, which I posted about earlier this month here, is online - not at coffeeshops near you quite yet. So here's a sneak peek; click here to read the version on ESM's site or just keep reading below.

Many thanks to Brian Lalli and Anthony Sanders for all that you've done to organize Hope High School alums and inspire current students.

Illustration by Jessica Pollock

Leading the Way

As a school-obsessed East Sider, I am always on the hunt for the scoop on our neighborhood’s schools. Usually this comes from parents, students and teachers, but of course, a school is as much its history as its present inhabitants. So when I heard that Hope High School’s alumni had formed an active alumni association, I chatted with Anthony Sanders (class of 1989) and Brian Lalli (class of 1993) to learn more.

Both Sanders, the president of the Hope Alumni Association, and active member Lalli fondly remember their time at Hope. Both attended Hope Essential School, a school-within-a-school program at Hope during the 1980s and 1990s that formed the basis of the small school reform approach that was implemented within Hope during the subsequent decade. Sanders, who attended Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School and Nathan Bishop Middle School before Hope, recalled, “Hope High School prepared me for college possibly more than necessary. Everything that we did in college I was ready for because of Hope. To this day, I write in a journal because of what I learned there, which were the core values needed in life.”

Sanders, who went on to graduate from Northeastern University and then received his MBA from Johnson and Wales, is a fraud investigator with Allstate Insurance. Along with other Hope alumni, he founded the alumni association in order to ensure that current students benefit from connections with successful alumni. “There are so many of us who are now lawyers, doctors and business owners who can go back and connect students to Hope’s traditions. We need to let everyone know that great things come out of Hope.”

The Hope Alumni Association, which is now a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, also arose from a sense that “something was missing,” as Lalli put it. “I never had a 10th reunion, and that didn’t feel right, so we started connecting with alums from across the years. And as we kept talking, we realized we wanted to do more than just get together and remember. We wanted to provide opportunities for Hope students today.” Lalli, the assistant director of residential life at Rhode Island College, grew up and still lives on the East Side. He attended Holy Ghost School and Nathan Bishop Middle before Hope, graduated from URI and is completing a certificate for advanced study in mental health counseling.

In order to provide that opportunity, Hope Alumni Association members created the Reach for the Stars scholarship program for Hope grads. The program raises funds from donations, an alumni weekend (which this year was July 13-15) and sales of Hope Blue Wave gear. This fundraising is on-going; you can make donations, buy Blue Wave sweatshirts and, if you’re a Hope alum who hasn’t yet joined up, become part of the alumni association by registering online.

The Hope Alumni Association plans to expand its involvement beyond the Reach for the Stars Scholarships and other sponsored awards for graduates by boosting alumni financial support and alumni attendance at sporting, theater and other events. Plans for a mentoring program are in the works, too. “Money on its own isn’t the answer,” said Sanders when asked about his vision for alumni involvement at Hope. “Kids want to see a living, breathing example of what can be done. I was the first one in my family to graduate from college, and I want to make sure that kids who are at Hope today can connect with people who came from where they are now. Sharing the pride that I have for Hope is what motivates me to continue to do this. Students who are at Hope now will carry that pride with them throughout their lives.”

Lalli shares Sanders’ interest in connecting alumni with students. “Young men in particular need positive male role models, and I want them to know that you can graduate and give back to your community.” And Lalli’s vision extends to the building as well as the people within. “I would love to rename Hope’s auditorium Alumni Auditorium,” he said. “It could be the East Side auditorium. We look at Nathan Bishop and see what is possible. That’s what I want for Hope.”

It’s been written before in the pages of East Side Monthly that the East Side benefits from feeling like a small town within a big city. But with eight public high schools in Providence, and many more charter and independent school options, we don’t share the defining experience of going to school together. Nevertheless, Hope High School, located at the center of our neighborhood, should also be at the center of our shared experience. So even if you did not attend Hope, consider supporting the Hope Alumni Association to keep your “hometown” school strong.

Hope High School Alumni Association Weekend, July 13-15

Next weekend, July 13-15, the Hope High School Alumni Association is hosting an all-classes alumni weekend - info available online here.

I'm sharing this to help get the word out to all Hope alums, The weekend is both for alums to get together and to raise money for the Hope Alumni Association's Reach for the Stars scholarship, awarded to current Hope grads who will be attending college and who " show commitment to education, citizenship and community."

Count me as a Hope High School Alumni Association cheerleader and supporter. You may want to lend your financial or other forms of support too, if you can, to bolster the efforts of alumni through the decades dedicated to making sure that Hope High School continues to be a place where students can thrive. Click here to donate or buy Hope High School gear. And stay tuned for more on the Hope High School Alumni Association - I'm writing about their efforts for August's East Side Monthly which should be out later this month.

Have a blast at the Blue Wave Alumni Weekend, everyone!

In the Winners' Circle: Veazie Street Elementary, Hope High School, Classical, and Nathan Bishop

I said I'd back off from being PPSD"s Suzy Sunshine so this post may seem like a contradiction to my promise to hit harder and smarter. However, within the past two weeks, a handful of Providence Schools and educators have been named winners of various honors and awards, a nice collection that I want to celebrate. Here's what's gone down:

Susan Chin, RI Elementary Principal of the Year
The ProJo reports today that Susan Chin, principal of Veazie Street Elementary School in Providence, has been named 2012's Elementary School Principal of the year by the Rhode Island Association of School Principals. Kudos to Ms. Chin!

I wish I knew or could easily find more about Veazie Street Elementary. Its test scores have risen during the past few years, as you can see via the school's InfoWorks report. Beyond that, I've heard great things about the school generally and Ms. Chin's leadership in particular in a word on the street kind of way.

In 2008, Mike Lazzareschi, then the principal of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, won the award. Prior to Lazzareschi's honor (which happened when I was PTO president at King), there had been no Providence principals who had received the award as far as we could determine. Now, two in five years.

Lisa Rose Bucci, Providence Teacher of the Year
On April 10, Lisa Rose Bucci, physics teacher at Hope High School, was named Providence's teacher of the year. The award had lain dormant for years - it's great that PPSD resurrected it and awarded to Ms. Bucci. Here's a write up from WPRI about Ms. Bucci and the teacher of the year honor. She sounds like an amazing educator.

Nathan Bishop Middle School and Classical High School, National Green Ribbon Schools 
On Monday, the United States Department of Education named Classical and Nathan Bishop Green Ribbon Schools to recognize their "comprehensive approach to creating "green" environments through reducing environmental impact, promoting health, and ensuring a high-quality environmental and outdoor education to prepare students with the 21st century skills and sustainability concepts needed in the growing global economy." Here's the full USDOE announcement. Bishop and Classical are Rhode Island's only representatives on the list of 78 schools in 29 states and Washington, DC.

What Bishop and Classical have done specifically to achieve Green Ribbon status, I don't know, but yay anyway!

Do all of these awards and honors mean good times for PPSD? Nope. But they're still the kind of thing worth celebrating even as we keep our eyes on the big prize of building a strong public school system that serves all students in all of our city's neighborhoods effectively and equitably.

Hope High School students: what did you do this summer? Read on to find out!

Summer can be a tremendous time for learning for students, as evidenced by the intense projects on which some Hope High School students have been working. During the past month, students from Hope High School's H2O After School programs participated in "The Experience," a four-week program in which they honed their entrepreneurial skills as product developers and marketers. Channel 6 ABC news reported on their efforts, and if you're on Facebook, you visit Hope H2O's Facebook page to learn more both about "The Experience" and Hope H2O's work in general.

And as I've written about previously, other Hope students in Edinburgh, Scotland to perform Laurie Brooks' "Triangle" at the American High School Theater Festival that's part of Edinburgh's Fringe Festival. They're performing this week, so send excellent vibes across the ocean! Recent local press coverage from GoLocalProv is here, and Rhode Island College's PR office covered the production in detail here; both Christine Auxier, a drama teacher at Hope and "Triangle" director and the production's technical director, Alonzo Jones, are RIC grads. Jones is also a Hope High School graduate.

Rock on, Hope High School!!!

Hope High School Theater Students Ready "Triangle" for Scotland - performances in Providence this week!

Hope students performing "Triangle" earlier this year

As previously on this blog shared here and here Hope High School's theater company will be performing Laurie Brooks' "Triangle" at the American High School Theater Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland in August. Local fans and supporters can catch performances of "Triangle" this week - Hope's theater students will perform at the Carriage House, 9 Duncan Avenue in Providence on Friday, June 24 at 7:00pm and Sunday, June 26 at 3:00pm. Tickets are $10 and as Channing Grey reported in the ProJo over the weekend, "will help defray travel expenses. Students, parents and the community have raised all but $10,000 of $106,000 needed to send the students to Scotland."

"Triangle" focuses on the modern-day connections to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which happened in New York City in 1911, killing 140 workers. Hope High School's appearance at the American High School Theater Festival marks the school's third time at the even in recent years, an extraordinary accomplishment for Hope theater teacher Christine Auxier, her students, and everyone who has supported them.

Get out to see "Triangle" this week and celebrate our local - soon to be international - talent!

"Going Public" feature of PPSD graduates in June's East Side Monthly

Readers on the East Side of Providence may already have seen a paper copy of June's East Side Monthly featuring profiles that I wrote of six East Side public high school students soon to graduate The cover features Hope High School seniors Ashley Davega, Alex Ahlquist, and Mike Chibante, with Classical High School seniors Alex Schmeling, Sharon Weissburg, and Dana Heng in a full-page interior photo. You can see and read the whole feature online; flip to page 22. All photos are by Amy Amerantes.

I had a tremendously fun time meeting these students and writing their profiles. Many thanks to Hope High School principal Scott Sutherland and Classical High School principal Scott Barr, who responded to my query to meet students who had made the most of their opportunities inside and outside of school gracefully and efficiently.

The common threads among all six students' experiences through their educational experiences seem to be:

• consistent support from family, teachers, and members of their communities
• an understanding that learning happens inside and outside of the classroom, and that it's all connected
• passions and interests that help organize their learning

All six students clearly benefited from educational experiences at school and in their communities that created ample opportunity for exploration, personalization, and high levels of achievement with the right kind of support for each kid. Of course, the profiles of these students are anecdotes, not necessarily indicators of the experiences of all young people in our public schools. I cannot say whether they represent what is typical. But I can say that they represent what is possible with the right kind of caring adults, high standards, the students' own commitment to hard work, and a strong sense of identity, of who they are as intellectuals and members of their communities.

Classical's Alex Schmeling, Sharon Weissburg, and Dana Heng will graduate on Friday, June 10; Hope's Mike Chibante, Alex Ahlquist, and Ashley Davega will graduate on Monday, June 13*. I wish all of them a wonderful end to the school year and all the best for a great summer and a strong start at each of their colleges** in the fall. Thank you for showing us examples of what's possible for yourselves and all of our young people.

--

* A link to a PDF of all Providence Public School high school graduation dates is here.

** Of course, college acceptance is not the only indicator of these students' successes. Still, not for nothing, it's an impressive list:

• Alex Ahlquist (Hope) - U. Mass Amherst
• Alex Schmeling (Classical) - Yale
• Ashley Davega (Hope) - URI
• Dana Heng (Classical) - University of Vermont
• Mike Chibante (Hope) - New England Institute of Art
• Sharon Weissburg (Classical) - Boston University or Brown

"Inspiring Hope" - A Look Inside Hope High School

May's East Side Monthly (with a cover that features friend of this blog Anisa Raoof, editor of the wonderful KidoInfo website) contains "Inspiring Hope," a continuation of the "At School Today" column I've been writing for ESM. For this piece, which is in the online and print editions on page 44, I spent a morning at Hope High School asking questions about what classes and programs are engaging Hope students and connecting them to success. Here it is online, and I've reprinted the piece below (which differs very slightly from the edited version in print).

There's been a lot said about Hope recently, especially since RIDE declared at the end of March that Hope Information Technology was a failing school in need of intervention (interestingly, the announcement of that unfortunate, and I think undeserved, designation happened the day before I visited the school for my ESM story). A few highlights of the Hope High School reporting and opinionating:

• "At Hope High, Recent Gains Now Lost," a bleak but honest assessment of the situation at Hope now in the ProJo
• A write up from WRNI on Hope teacher's reaction to the plan, which includes appealing RIDE's decision and/or combining Hope Arts and Hope IT to form one un-failing school (the ProJo also covered this development here)
• Commentary from Warren Simmons of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform on the ups and downs of Hope with an eye toward describing the reasons why changes made to improve academics at the school have not created meaningful or lasting improvement. 

I feel that I have far more to learn about my neighborhood's only public high school before I embark on any significant opinionating of my own. I am exceedingly grateful for the generosity of Hope's educators, administrators and students as I have begun to get to know the school. For this story and for a feature that's going to appear in the June edition of East Side Monthly, they have greeted me warmly and opened their school to me. There's a deep well of good practice alive at Hope, and much of that emerges in the stellar programs that I wrote about. These programs - JROTC, theater, and the arts program - are not making the difference academically or otherwise for all kids at Hope. Nevertheless, even if they don't represent what is typical, they very much represent what is possible, and I believe that if Hope's educators and students had a reasonable amount of autonomy balanced with accountability, as they have had from time to time in the past though not long enough and not with the right conditions (as Dr. Simmons described), they could achieve amazing results.

With no further ado, here's the May ESM "At School Today" piece on my day at Hope High School:

As a curious neighbor, possible prospective parent, and journalist, I recently visited Hope High School. I wanted to get inside Hope to appreciate some the good things that I believed must be happening for students within Hope Arts and Hope Information Technology, the school’s two learning communities. Anyone with a passing awareness of local public education knows that a collective of Hope students have demonstrated fierce loyalty to the school as they attempted to preserve the Hope’s block schedule and accompanying adequate teacher common planning time, an endeavor that has met with frustration (and which is itself a powerful story, but not the story I am telling here).  As that situation unfolded, my present curiosity focused not only on teaching and learning as demonstrated (or not) by NECAP scores but on what else was happening inside Hope.

The morning I set aside to spend at Hope started in Laura Maxwell’s Advanced Placement English class, one of four AP offerings this year at the school, where I joined the class’ 12 students to study the construction of persuasive essays. I spent several more hours with teachers and students, although I needed several more days to check out all the list of programs and opportunities for students that Laura and her colleagues had assembled. In the time that I had, I got to know a bit about three programs that are clearly creating powerful opportunities for engagement and success for students.

First, I visited Hope’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program, run by teachers Lieutenant Colonel Raoul Archambault and First Sergeant Alan Kushner. Formerly part of Hope Leadership, which no longer exists as a separate learning community, the JROTC program continues to thrive. Enrolling 130 students in grades 9-12—nearly a tenth of Hope’s student body—JROTC combines academics, leadership and teamwork training, service learning, health and physical fitness, and more. I saw young people learning in a unique classroom, with desks on one side, a workout area on the other, and ample resources to support their JROTC commitment. The only school in Providence with a JROTC program, Hope receives federal funding for uniforms, materials, and a 50 percent subsidy for instructor salaries. JROTC students’ strong academic achievement, high rates of graduation, and higher education success repay the investment. Students I talked with said that they were grateful for the program’s structure, high expectations, and opportunity to share their skills with the city; if you see a military color guard at a Providence Bruins game or a Providence Public Schools high school graduation, you’re likely looking at Hope JROTC students in action.

I next met with art teacher Valerie Kline, who spent her lunch break sharing details of Hope’s partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design. In its eighth year, the partnership offers Hope Arts students the opportunity to pursue serious arts study and career preparation. Students participate in RISD’s Project Open Door program, which provides learning opportunities and mentors for students from Hope and several other urban schools from eighth grade through college. Hope students can earn RISD certificates—a professional credential—in a variety of fields, and RISD students and staff work at Hope to support students as they hone their skills and build their portfolios. RISD places three Master of Arts in teaching candidates at Hope for training and RISD students and staff members actively participate in Hope’s robust afterschool offerings. The Hope-RISD partnership also assures that up to two Hope Arts students per year are eligible for full 4-year RISD undergraduate scholarships. Clearly, Kline and her fellow Hope Arts teachers also serve as valuable assets to Hope students dedicated to approaching arts scholarship and practice seriously.

My last stop took me to Christine Auxier’s drama studio, part classroom and part stage. Auxier and 15 of her theater students were preparing for the following evening’s preview performance of Laurie Brooks’ Triangle, a play focused on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire disaster and its parallels to current-day immigrants' issues. [Readers may remember that I shared info about a Triangle preview in a previous post.] In August, the Hope High School Theater Company will perform Triangle in Edinburgh, Scotland at the American High School Theater Festival, which takes place in conjunction with the city's renowned Fringe Festival. The American High School Theater Festival showcases the best of high school theater in the United States. Hope is a repeat visitor to the Festival, having performed there previously in 2000 and 2004, and this year is Rhode Island’s only representative. It’s an incredible honor, the result of many years of dedicated effort and tradition within Hope’s theater program.

There’s so much more. I wish I could tell you about Hope Information Technology’s certification offerings for students, about Hope’s athletics program, about Hope’s student journalism successes. Through the years that I have been writing about education, I have felt far more love for high schools that I ever dreamed possible when I was a student myself. I share this not terribly astounding revelation as a way to frame the frankly giddy delight I experienced during my brief time at Hope. While what I observed may not be the experience of all students, it certainly represents what is possible and what we as a neighborhood and a city must celebrate and expand.

P.S.: In February’s column, I didn’t yet know which middle school my oldest child would choose as he moved from elementary school. People have wondered about what we decided, so I’m happy to report that once we get through the rigors of fifth grade and the delights of summer, he will be a student at Nathan Bishop Middle School*.

*Or so I expect, but do not actually know for sure. As of today, May 10, families of incoming middle school students have still not heard from PPSD about our kids' school placements.  

Preview of "Triangle" and discussion at Hope High School tonight, 7:00pm

Tonight, the Hope High School Theater Company will offer a free preview performance of Laurie Brook's Triangle, a play focused on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire disaster and its parallels to current-day immigrants' issues. Hope theater teacher Christine Auxier and her student performers chose today for the preview because it's the 100th anniversary of the fire. A discussion with the actors and Hope high school faculty will follow the half-hour preview performance.

The Triangle preview will take place at Hope High School, 342 Hope Street in Providence, 7:00pm tonight.

The Hope High School Theater Company will perform Triangle in Edinburgh, Scotland this summer at the American High School Theater Festival, which takes place in conjunction with the city's renowned Fringe Festival. The American High School Theater Festival showcases the best of high school theater in the United States - it's a highly competitive, tremendous undertaking. Hope is a repeat visitor to the Festival, having performed there previously in 2000 and 2004. This video prominently features Hope High School's performers from their trip in 2000, and conveys a vivid sense of the festival's thrill and rigor.

Attend tonight's performance and discussion to learn more both about the Triangle fire and its parallels to today and to connect with this extraordinarily focused and talented group of young people at Hope High School. I'll be sharing more here in the coming weeks about how to support the Hope High School Theater Company as they make their final preparations to travel to Scotland in August - and if you don't want to wait, feel free to contact the company's director Christine Auxier by email to offer your support.

Storm in Narragansett

Yesterday, with many others, I got myself to Narragansett High School for the Rhode Island Board of Regents meeting. Unfortunately, I then had to get myself back to Providence long before the meeting ended; nearly an hour and a half in, public comments were still happening, most devoted to protesting the Regents' proposed changes in the Rhode Island high school diploma requirements and the proposal to institute a three-tiered diploma system. This new system would go into effect for this year's high school juniors and would, with its over-reliance on NECAP scores to determine diploma status, severely and inequitably penalize students of color and from low-income backgrounds, as well as English language learner and students receiving special education services. More here from ProJo's Jennifer Jordan on the public outcry against the proposed changes and the Regents' decision to move forward into public hearings, which will happen later this month.

Today's ProJo also shared a shocker that happened later during the meeting. Linda Borg reports that the Board of Regents voted to stay Commissioner Deborah Gist's ruling in favor of restoring essential common planning time to Hope High School teachers, a resource that the Providence Public Schools administration removed from the school last year and which students, with the counsel and action of attorney Miriam Weizenbaum, successfully fought. The Regents' approval of Gist's ruling was viewed by many as a foregone conclusion, as it had been endorsed by a Regents' subcommittee and was clearly in good legal standing. I don't know enough to be authoritative, but it sure seems that the Regents' reversal, based (as Borg reports) on changes that may happen in the future, is specious.

This decision is terribly unfair to Hope High School's students, who understand and have fought for what works in their school, and to all students in Providence who can benefit from the innovation and experience that's been a factor in Hope's successes. I don't fathom why the Regents are aligning against proven innovation and effectiveness, and am exceedingly grateful for the students and attorney Weizenbaum for continuing to fight for that which school staff members are legally entitled.

Check out Tom Hoffman's blog for more on both of these stories.