Schools at the Head of the Class
Published Apr 17, 2008
Mike Paskewicz, the superintendent of the Adams 12 Five Star Schools, stands in front of a flag created by middle school students.
Improving student performance and enhancing student learning is a shared goal among educators, but two Metro North school districts in particular are putting their actions behind their intentions.
Adams 12 Five Star Schools, which covers five cities, demonstrated significant growth on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) tests three years in a row. In 2007, the district made gains on the majority of the 27 CSAP tests, and it made the most gains of any other metro school districts in 2005 and 2006.
“We attribute much of this success to our staff’s commitment in using data to drive instruction,” says Superintendent Mike Paskewicz. Staff begins each year analyzing the data to establish student achievement goals and plan for ongoing student reports. The strategy is flexible. Throughout the year, staff makes adjustment to ensure students are mastering the content standards.
The district seeks to have 85 percent of students at or above grade level in reading, writing and math. The numbers are encouraging. The percent of students meeting the goal has soared from 69 percent in 2003 to 75 percent in 2007.
“In a system where you’re moving nearly 39,000 students, netting a 6-percent gain in such a short time is a laudable achievement,” Paskewicz says.
Recently, Adams 12 Five Star Schools spearheaded the expansion of the Adams County Education Consortium, a group of educators and business leaders working together to produce highly skilled workers and create quality jobs in the area.
Business representatives visit classes to help determine skills needed for the workplace and to educate students about career opportunities.
Adams School District 50, meanwhile, is in the process of reinventing itself, says Deb Haviland, director of communications and community relations for the district.
On track is a new high school and elementary school. The new elementary school will replace two existing schools, for a total of 12 by January 2009.
The high school, which will accommodate up to 3,000 students, will replace the three high schools currently in operation. Scheduled for completion in 2010, the school will combine a traditional curriculum with a career-technical curriculum.
At the middle and high school level, Adams 50 features the International Baccalaureate program, a global standard of teaching that offers the same curriculum – no matter where in the world the school is located.
Indeed, multiculturalism is an emphasis in Adams 50, where there are 41 different languages spoken. F.M. Day Elementary School, a choice school, offers a dual-language program in English and Spanish. “When you’re in that school, you are learning both languages,” Haviland says. (Foreign languages are not normally part of the curriculum until secondary school.)
“The program gives parents an option to get their kids on the foreign-language track before middle or high school.”
Both districts are intent on producing results from their initiatives.
“We’ve seen that when we focus on our goals, we excel,” Paskewicz says.
Story by Pam George
Photo by Michael W. Bunch
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