D-11 could have big changes in store for Wasson, Trailblazer

If they change it, will students come? And perhaps more importantly, will they achieve more and stay through graduation?

Wasson High School Principal Sean Dorsey is betting that a proposed transformation of the school he leads will do just that.

“We have a pretty good understanding at Wasson that innovation is necessary,” he said recently.

The school is seeking permission from the Colorado Springs School District 11 board to apply for School of Innovation status.

The board will consider the proposal Wednesday as a nonaction item and is scheduled to vote on it April 28.

It also will vote on some proposed changes for Trailblazer Elementary School, including the addition of sixth-grade classes.

If the board OKs the Wasson plan and the state approves the School of Innovation application, Wasson would become the first school in the region and fourth in the state to take advantage of a 2008 state law that allows public schools to break some rules to try new things.

Denver Public Schools has three innovation schools and has established an Office of School Reform and Innovation.

The Innovation Act provides schools and districts with some of the management and budgeting freedoms afforded charter and private schools.

“This provides a nice opportunity for districts and schools to get some constructive autonomy,” Rich Wenning, Colorado’s association commissioner for education, said of the act.

It allows schools or districts to seek waivers from policies and statutes so they have more flexibility in such areas as hiring and firing staff and setting academic calendars and school-day schedules.

One change Wasson is proposing, for example, is to close the campus so students could not leave at lunch and on free periods as they can now.

The school would also tweak some policies on student attendance to fit its program.

Also, teachers hired after the proposed conversion would not be able to attain non-probationary status at Wasson, according to the plan.

During a recent work session, Dorsey told the D-11 board that while the staff overall favors seeking innovation status, there is some resistance from Colorado Springs Education Association members to waiving items in the master agreement.

He said discussions are ongoing, and he believes the staff and administration can work through the differences.

“We have this model of the Achieve Graduate,” he said, referencing the district’s campaign to increase achievement for all students. “If we want that kind of graduate, we need that kind of teacher, and professional development is key.

“I don’t want teacher buy-in. … We need teacher ownership.”

Some board members said they were disappointed that teachers seem concerned they would not be treated fairly if the waivers were approved.

“I’m a little saddened that we haven’t convinced the teachers of our genuine desire to take care of them,” said board member Charlie Bobbitt. “I think this would be positive for the school and the students and staff and could be a big boost for the district.”

The apparently strong board support for the proposal isn’t surprising.

A year ago, the D-11 board pulled Wasson off the chopping block as it approved a massive consolidation and closed eight schools.

With its reprieve, Wasson was directed to develop a four-year plan to make the school a success.

Wasson, while not labeled a “failing school,” has suffered in recent years from declining enrollment, stagnant student achievement, a significant minority achievement gap and a poor public perception.

Some board members have occasionally brought up the idea of pursuing a School of Innovation, which would give the district leeway to try new things.

Dorsey said he immediately began working on Wasson’s future plan after the board voted to keep the school open.

Initially, he said, he worked with the math and science departments because one of the early ideas was to add a math/science magnet program to the existing arts magnet program.

Things grew from there, and within weeks he began looking at the School of Innovation concept.

Others are doing the same as they look at creating new schools, revitalizing stagnant or failing schools or strengthening existing programs, Wenning, the education commissioner, said.

“We’re seeing growing interest in the concept,” he said. “It’s been slow to roll out, but folks are learning about it and thinking about how they can most constructively use that ability in their approaches to school reform.”

The Trailblazer Plan
Trailblazer Elementary School is one of Colorado Springs School District 11’s newest schools, but it has never been fully used. Built for 550 students, it currently has 383 enrolled.

Trailblazer sits near the border with Academy School District 20, and the district loses about 30 percent of its Trailblazer fifth-graders to D-20’s nearby Eagleview Middle School.

The closest D-11 middle school, Holmes, is about 5 miles away. But the flow to D-20 often starts in preschool andkindergarten because of the programming offered.

The Trailblazer plan was started a year ago with the idea of converting the school to a K-8 campus, but the idea got little traction with the community. However, parents liked the idea of adding sixth grade to the school.

Plan for changes this fall:
• Add a sixth-grade class for students who prefer to stay in elementary school for an additional year. The class would have an enhanced technology focus, with students developing an electronic portfolio.
• Add a preschool to establish a continuum from early childhood learning.
• Offer introductory Spanish classes for K-5 and exploratory Spanish for sixth grade.

The school would also work with Holmes Middle School to develop a transition plan for students who attend sixth grade at Trailblazer and join middle school in seventh grade.

The board is scheduled to vote on the plan at its April 28 meeting. It will be on the agenda for nonaction discussion Wednesday.

The Wasson Plan
The school would offer comprehensive high school courses but would have a freshman academy and three upper-level academies: arts, law and leadership, and science/math.

The academies would be like schools within a school, but there would be flexibility for students to try courses in all of the academies.

The school would adopt the TAP pay-for-performance program that is used at Discovery Canyon Campus in Academy School District 20 and other schools across the country.

The program includes multiple career paths, professional growth, instructional accountability and performance-based compensation.

For more details, visit www.tapsystem.org.

Plan goals:
• Increase enrollment from about 1,000 students to 1,500 in five years.
• Increase graduation rate from 72 percent to at least 90 percent.
• Close the achievement gap while raising achievement for all students.
• Create community partnerships, including ones that would lead to internships and mentoring for students.

Waivers:
The school would seek waivers from several policies and state statutes, including those covering hiring practices, staff evaluations, student attendance and suspensions and campus rules.

Cost:
The plan has some start-up costs and some ongoing costs, but Principal Sean Dorsey said the school would seek grants and partnerships to help.

Start-up cost is estimated at about $195,000 and would include the conversion of a classroom into a mock courtroom, the addition of a Mac lab and other technology, and some staff training.

Recurring costs over the next three years were estimated at $524,000 and would include additional teachers and costs to pay for concurrent enrollment at colleges for some upper-level students.

The full business plan and application for innovation status are included in the D-11 meeting agenda and can be found at www.d11.org/novus/meetings.aspx.