Why the change? Staff say it was clear the traditional high school model did not work for many students. “We needed something different, because there were students whose needs were not being met,” said teacher Bobbi Konshuk.

In response to the district’s startling drop-out rate and less-than-stellar graduation statistics, Havermale started becoming more intentional about providing different programs for students with different ways of learning. On Track Academy, for instance, supports 11th and 12th grade students who are behind in credits and want to get up to speed quickly. Contract Based Education is for students who, for any number of reasons, cannot attend school during the day and need to work on their own time. The largest group on the West Campus, The Community School, is for those who have found it difficult to engage in a traditional setting and want a smaller school with a more individualized approach.

Instead of the traditional six-period day format, The Community School’s flexible schedules make room for personalized, project-based learning designed around standards. Learning extends beyond the school walls into the Spokane community as students design investigations around authentic topics, linking them to experts in business, non-profits and other organizations.

“I always tried to do project-based learning, so this is liberating,” said teacher Carlos Sotolongo. “This is real-life learning; that’s the beauty of it. Kids will pay more attention to what they’re learning because they are the ones choosing what they’ll study.”

 “We want every student to feel they have a choice and that they have a voice,” explained Cindy McMahon, principal of The Community School.

Every morning, teachers meet from 7:45-8:30 a.m. because they know it takes that amount of learning and support to figure out this new way of doing things.

“They realize they have to dig into their own craft and learn together,” McMahon said.

Change doesn’t happen overnight; the seeds of change for The Community School had been growing over several years. Last year included meetings to define the vision and brainstorm how to get there, as well as creating a student advisory board to get the students’ ideas for the retooled school.

“It’s taken a leap of faith,” Konshuk said, “but the staff is very flexible and supportive of each other.”

Still, there are questions that remain unanswered, and a certain amount of figuring things out as they go. But there is no looking back; only forward. Administrators eagerly listen to students’ suggestions, which have resulted in more student involvement and ownership in their own learning.

Besides offering before- and after-school child care, Spokane Public Schools’ Express program also has a special kindergarten session. What’s great about it is that the kindergartners are kept separate from the other elementary schoolers. This is important, because to the parent of a fresh new kindergartner, even the first graders can seem like big kids!

Alcoholic parents, a divorce and other family problems bounced Alycin around from school to school: two in California, three in Tacoma and three in Spokane.

Zack got good grades as a freshman and sophomore, but when his dad got cancer, he felt torn between family matters and school. “I was struggling,” he said. “I was only going to one class a week.”

Too many people pegged Cody as a copy of his dropout brother.

For these students, the future was distant and out-of-focus. The thought of graduation drifted like an untethered balloon. Since joining On Track, however, they have snatched that balloon out of the sky and are holding on tight to see just how far they’ll be able to fly. On Track, located on the Spokane Skills Center campus, is a credit completion program designed to provide students high levels of interactive and relevant learning, a close look at career options and paths to college or training after graduation.

“For some reason, for hundreds of reasons, the system didn’t work for them,” explained teacher Karen MacDonald. “At On Track, we’re looking at kids as individuals and figuring out what they need. They will all meet the same learning targets as students in any other SPS school, but might show their learning differently.”

On Track started in 2009 with 75 students; all but two returned the next year, and it has continued to grow each year. The program has been visited by state education representatives who think On Track should be a model for Race to the Top, the national competitive grant program to encourage and reward states that are implementing significant education reforms. The partnership with the Spokane Skills Center allows the students to learn about careers they are passionate about as they earn college credits.
Students have their own thoughts about why On Track works. They know what they have to do to graduate, so they show up and get to work. They are thrilled to work at their own pace and not have to wait for the rest of the class to catch up.

“We are family here,” said Twahan, a senior. “I work at my own pace, but I work harder here. I wake up every morning willing and happy to come here.”

 “I had no sanctuary, but here I found that,” said Zack. “Every student here has a bond with someone – a teacher or counselor.”
“The teachers take time to answer your questions,” Alycin said. “They don’t want to see you fail. They push you until you can do it.”

Staff are proud of the confidence boost they see students receive as a result of their work with On Track. For the program’s first Student Led Conferences, 100 percent of the families attended and gave feedback like: “We appreciate this alternative to traditional educational programs and like the ‘family’ atmosphere and the genuine concern.”

In addition to fulfilling their necessary credits, On Track students also planned the program’s first graduation. The staff and students had much to celebrate.

“It’s about choice,” said TEC Principal Gwen Harris, explaining the importance of SPS offering homeschool support. “One size doesn’t fit all. Kids are here for lots of reasons.”

Reasons that keep growing, apparently – TEC now offers more than 200 courses – all of which align with state standards – to its 408 students in grades K-12. In 2002, it had just 45 students. The course list includes algebra, geometry and biology in addition to such enticing titles as Chocolate Fever, Critters & Jitters, Historical Adventures: Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Jedi Training and Passport to the World.

Mindy Buller is a part-time TEC teacher and homeschooling mom, and one of many teachers whose children attend TEC classes. After teaching at a mainstream high school, she finds the motivation of TEC students to be very different.

“They aren’t doing work for a grade,” she said. “They know that math, for example, is something they need to learn.”

“Kids are thrilled to be here,” Harris added. “They usually come twice a week and are eager to be with other kids.”

TEC students can take courses for up to 14 hours a week. Every student has a written learning plan – a collaborative effort of teachers and parents – that includes learning goals, objectives, outcomes and evidence of learning, which teachers are responsible for monitoring.

Each of TEC’s 12 certificated teachers has a caseload of certain students. They have weekly contact with families, provide monthly progress reports on students and have hour-long conferences for each student four times a year. Buller characterized the TEC staff as highly collaborative people who like to think outside the box.
“We are constantly making up new courses, figuring out what we’d love to teach and what would best help our students,” she said, noting that most 11th and 12th graders at TEC do Running Start, allowing them to attend college classes while earning high school and college credit.

“It’s amazing what you can do when you have parents working with you,” Harris said. Because parents can leave any time they want, providing great customer service is a huge focus for teachers and office staff alike, she added.

“Students aren’t here because they can’t do the work, but because of distractions or a lack of motivation,” he said. “Last year there were six or seven seniors who wouldn’t have graduated on time without ICAN.” At Ferris, ICAN students already have completed 32 classes first semester. Once they pass their class, “it releases the weight of those lingering F’s and deficient credits. That’s the beauty of this program – that they can have that success,” Farzana said.

Now in its second year, ICAN is supporting students in different ways. At the high school level, ICAN (for Individual Credit Advancement Now) helps with students meet their on-time graduation goals; at the middle school level, ICAN (for Individual Course Achievement Now) helps students gain skills necessary to be promoted to the next grade level. ICAN’s student-centered approach uses Spokane Virtual Learning’s web-based, district-aligned curriculum. ICAN students have classtime scheduled with an ICAN classroom teacher, like Farzana, and can access their coursework from a computer anytime, anywhere. Their progress is tracked electronically to make sure their teachers and counselors know how to best support them. ICAN courses take an average of 6-8 weeks to complete, and students can test through district standards that they have already mastered.

The middle school ICAN program provides online course recovery for students who have failed a math or English course at semester or quarter. The focus of the middle school program is to help students gain skills necessary for promotion to the next grade level. ICAN really only works, Farzana said, with students who are ready to be responsible for their learning. Before they begin, Farzana has a sit down, face-to-face conversation with the students. He asks them if they are ready to take on ICAN, and has them write down the reasons why they think they have been recommended for ICAN.

“This is right up my alley with how I want to help students, and spend more one-on-one time with them,” he said. “When students complete a class, their name goes up on a wall of fame. We promote success in here.”

Find more information about ICAN on the Curriculum Connection site here.

“CTE has been changing the way they do things. There’s more rigor in our courses, and more professional development,” said CTE Director Lisa White. “Teachers are working hard to create power standards, to be clear about their focus, and align their courses with the skills taught in math and English, so that we are all working together.”

Our CTE students now compete and interact on a global level. Digital photography students, for example, score above the mean on state, national and international Advanced Placement assessments.

“Our program provides our students the opportunity to not only learn the latest photography techniques using professional equipment, but also understand what they can do to better prepare themselves for their future,” said Rogers digital photography teacher Kirk Hirota. “The class provides an avenue for the students to explore their creativity and express this through different genres of photography--going well beyond simply being able to take a pretty picture.”

Richard Bech, who also teaches digital photography at Rogers, explained how they have pumped up course expectations to meet the College Board standards. “The students are doing more reading, researching, writing and reflection,” he said. “We are embedding more core class standards in an effort to better prepare our students for post-secondary education. They are learning valuable life skills such as being on time, being organized, being a critical thinker, producing their best work and meeting a deadline.”

Among CTE’s many offerings in SPS are genomic research at North Central High School’s Institute of Science and Technology, ProStart culinary courses, manufacturing, marketing, Project Lead the Way - BioMedical, horticulture, CyberPatriots and First Robotics.

CTE is surrounded by community partners who make sure that what students learn is what they need to know to be successful today and tomorrow. Advisory groups of business, community, postsecondary partners meet with CTE teachers at least four times a year to do curriculum updates, help with staffing, and give tours.

“Our goal is to get every student a rich and deep experience so they can then decide where they want to go,” White said. “When you hear ‘college,’ you need to think ‘career.’ For some students, it doesn’t make sense to go to college right after graduation. They can get a career with the skills they have from CTE to pay for college, or have their employer pay for college.”

As the best courses do, CTE not only teaches skills and academics, but also provides unique opportunities to its students.