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Story posted June 9, 2009

Results:
• Disciplinary referrals are down 27% since the transition
• Over the past three years, 90% of freshman passed English, up from 76% prior to the transition
• The freshman dropout rate declined from 14% in 2005 to an average of 8% over the past three years

At the end of the 2004–2005 academic year, Bridgeton High School in southern New Jersey closed its doors as a traditional high school. On September 1, 2005, the school, which serves a largely minority and economically disadvantaged student body, welcomed back its 1,100 students, teachers, administrators, and parents to a totally new system of education. Rededicated as a Talent Development High School (TDHS), what used to be one large school is now divided into smaller learning communities known as career academies. With this change, Bridgeton started on the road to greater student success in attendance, retention, and academic performance.

Planning for the transition
In 2005, when the school district asked Bridgeton to be one of four high schools to participate in a statewide Secondary Education Initiative (SEI) to transition high schools to smaller learning communities, Bridgeton was already primed for the change. Staff and administrators had begun working in 2004–2005 with Johns Hopkins University on transforming Bridgeton using the Talent Development High School (TDHS) model. Plans called for the school to divide its tenth through twelfth grade students into three career academies (Arts and Humanities; Business and Industrial Technology; Mathematics, Science, and Medical), as well as create a Ninth Grade Success Academy and E.C.HO.E.S. (Everyone Creates His/Her Opportunities, Experiences, and Successes), a credit recovery academy for struggling students.

In anticipation of the transformation, both TDHS and the New Jersey State Department of Education’s High Schools that Work presented to Bridgeton staff about the programs. In addition, district and school administrators, supervisors, and teachers all attended TDHS conferences and High Schools that Work sessions to better understand the concept of smaller learning communities and to learn about what was happening in high school education across the country. Attendees took what they learned at the conferences back to the whole staff. After discussing various options, the school voted to adopt the TDHS model.

Teachers and staff then participated in a number of planning committees focused on faculty changes, academy themes and curriculum, communications, the Ninth Grade Success Academy and E.C.H.O.E.S. “Each committee had benchmarks and timelines and reported regularly on progress so everyone had the broad picture,” says Karen Horwitz, the high school’s Talent Development Organizational Facilitator. Regular communications from the high school kept parents and the community informed about the changes.

State funds were not available for this transition; however, the high school and district were able to budget for the John Hopkins consultants. “The district was very supportive and forthcoming with whatever we needed. For example, it readily provided the funding for six additional teachers and for more consultation time with Johns Hopkins” says Horwitz.

Putting the plan into action
While some schools choose to phase in small learning communities over time, Bridgeton decided to implement the academies simultaneously so that the school, schedule, and facility were all reorganized at the same time.

“Although we had planned ahead, and there was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, sometimes it felt as though we were learning to fly the airplane while we were assembling it,” says Horwitz. Ninth Grade Success Academy Team Leader and language arts teacher Joni Resides notes, “When we made the change, the most common shared feeling was fear of the unknown. Eventually, that sentiment was replaced by the feeling that we’re all in this together, and everyone pulled together to make it work.

One major challenge the school faced was changing curriculum, lesson plans, and schedules previously based on 42-minute classroom sessions to a new 84-minute block schedule. Another was re-allocating space within a 1950’s traditional high school building so that each academy has its own area. Grouping teachers into academies also required different patterns of teacher interaction across, as well as within, disciplines. “The new use of physical space with each academy on its own floor meant that teachers from the same subject area no longer shared a hallway or common space,” says Michael Valella, Ninth Grade Success Academy social science teacher. “It was a little disorienting at first, but it was great to get to know new colleagues as part of an interdisciplinary teaching team.”

Creating a firm foundation for high school success
The Ninth Grade Success Academy has been a particularly gratifying and successful part of the transition. “With only 320 students, the Academy offers a safe, welcoming environment where entering freshmen can learn how to be successful high school students,” says Academy Principal Stephen J. Lynch. “Most eighth graders aren’t prepared for the discipline of high school and don’t know what to expect. They don’t realize that high school requirements for attendance and grades are stricter,” says Resides. “They really need the structure and individual attention that we’re able to give them in the Academy.” An orientation course, a focus on core courses (language arts, social sciences, and mathematics), assignment of each student to a team of core teachers, and freshman guidance counselors are key elements in creating a more personalized environment that takes the whole student into account.

Although freshmen do learn about college and careers to help them make a decision about their future career academy placement, “the Academy’s main focus is on giving them the study and social skills necessary so that they can advance to the next grade and be successful throughout high school and beyond,” says Lynch. “Because the Academy is in a separate part of the building with its own entrance, freshmen students don’t have the distraction or pressure of interacting with upperclassmen. This makes a big difference in disciplinary problems and allows freshmen to bond together as a class.”

Charting a future in college or a career
Upper class academies are organized around three career pathways—Arts and Humanities; Business and Industrial Technology; and Mathematics, Science, and Medical. “We selected our career academy themes based upon our strengths, as well as student interests,” says Principal Lynn Williams. “Prior to the transition, we had a strong arts program and strong pre-nursing program, for example, so we built on them for the Arts and Humanities Academy and the Mathematics, Science, and Medical Academy. When we saw what career clusters were being developed at the nearby community college, where some of our students are dual-enrolled, we knew we were on the mark.”

Each career academy has required core courses and electives, plus a choice of two pathways. For example, the Arts and Humanities Academy has a Creative Arts Pathway to help students gain marketable skills in the performing and graphic arts, communications, music, and the media. It also has a Law and Public Service Pathway for those interested in careers in the law, law enforcement, or government service. “Parents sometimes express concern about requiring students to make a potential career orientation early on, but we try to get them to understand that it’s important to get students focused on a goal even if they change their minds later,” says Williams. In addition, “there is some flexibility across academies in case [students] have varied interests such as music and medicine.”

Bridgeton strives to address the needs of the whole student. The school offers many built-in safeguards and safety nets to all students—the E.C.H.O.E.S. credit recovery academy, a teen center, guidance counseling, after-school tutoring, an anger management program, and intervention assistance for teachers. It also offers recognition and award assemblies, as well as after-school educational, sports, and social activities.

Measuring success
Since being rededicated as a TDHS, school attendance is up, disciplinary referrals are down 27 percent, and more students are completing their studies each year. The Ninth Grade Success Academy has been particularly successful. Since it’s inception, student attendance has consistently averaged about 93 percent. The dropout rate during freshman year has declined from 14 percent in 2005 to an average of 8 percent over the past three years. The percent of students passing algebra rose from 61 to 87 percent in the first two years of the Academy. Many students now enter the Academy having already taken Algebra I in eighth grade, and 70 percent of the current freshman class is enrolled in geometry. On average, 90 percent of freshmen passed English over the past three years, up from 76 percent prior to the transition to the TDHS model. An average of 24 percent of students have made honor roll, up from 14 percent prior to the transition. Students who do not have enough credits to advance to tenth grade move to the E.C.H.O.E.S Academy, where most recover sufficient credit after a single semester to rejoin their tenth grade class.

The transition to the TDHS model has also invigorated parents, who now attend school functions in greater numbers. In 2004, only 40 students had parents present at the Back-to-School night event. This year, 296 students did. Parents of 417 students attended parent teacher conferences last year. Parents are also in the process of forming a parent teacher association. “We now have a high school that is preparing students for a lifetime of success and that is more welcoming than ever to students, parents, and the community,” says Williams. “Our system isn’t perfect, but we’re all committed to the model and to making it work better every day.” For a high school whose district motto is “The relentless pursuit of achievement,” no one would expect any less.

For additional information, please contact:
Lynn Williams
Principal, Bridgeton High School
(856) 455-8030

Karen Horwitz
Talent Development Organizational Facilitator
(856) 455- 8030, ext. 2364

Story originally published by the Center for Public Education and adapted with permission.

Click here to access the original story as contained in the Center for Public Education's website.