Angels in Our Community - The Spectrum Magazine

RCSD Corner: News From the Redwood City School District
TCommunity Committee Grapples With Enrollment Challenges, Program Offerings
he Redwood City School District has had record enrollment over the
last several years, with especially strong demand for several of the district’s
four Schools of Choice — schools that have no neighborhood
boundaries and to which all students in the district can apply to
attend. Besides strong demand for enrollment at these districtwide schools,
several neighborhood schools throughout the district have had more
kindergarteners register than the school can accommodate. Hawes School, for
example, one of the smallest schools in the district, had 150 students register
for 60 kindergarten seats. In addition, several K–5 schools have expressed
interest in expanding to offer sixth grade, or sixth through eighth grade.
Recognizing that issues of enrollment, space capacity, grade configuration
and program focus are interrelated and that proposed solutions must align with
the needs and desires of the local community, the Redwood City School District
board of trustees recently approved Superintendent Jan Christensen’s
recommendation that the district form a committee made up of parents,
teachers, principals and community members to study the issues connected
with grade configuration, enrollment and school programs and make
recommendations for the next steps needed to address the district’s challenges.
“As with past decisions that have the potential to impact the broader
community, we wanted to engage a cross section of our parents, staff and
local citizens to analyze our challenges in the context of our community and
our current program offerings,” said Christensen.
Christensen explained that since the Redwood City School District opened
its first school, Central, in 1895, it has made continued adjustments to its
academic offerings depending on the number of students enrolled, the needs
of the community and ongoing evaluation about how to best prepare students
for high school and the workforce. Over the years, the school board has made
many important decisions on school openings, closings, program offerings
and grade-level configurations. In 1990, for example, the district formed a
Citizen’s Advisory Council that worked over a period of several years to form
a magnet school plan that resulted in each school forming a themed focus that
enabled the district to win a large federal grant.
The federal grant, awarded in the 1995–96 school year, resulted in the
implementation of program choices such as a two-way Spanish immersion
program at Adelante, a marine science focus at Clifford, a performing arts
focus at John Gill School and the formation of North Star Academy, available
to students who academically qualify to participate in a program that compacts
curriculum in order to make time for students to participate in multi-grade,
specialized, elective enrichment classes. When the federal grant funding ended
in 2004–05, the district transitioned to its current Schools of Choice program.
The Grade Configuration, Enrollment and Programs Committee,
comprising 33 members, held its first meeting on Sept. 27 and met three
times subsequently. The meetings were moderated by Chris Maricle, an
administrator with the California School Boards Association who assists
school districts in strategic planning. At the first and second meetings,
members were briefed in detail by Chief Business Official Raul Parungao
on the space currently available at each school throughout the district and
the factors that influence use of space at any given school. Parungao showed
participants an interactive spreadsheet that demonstrated the long-term
impacts of adding classes at any given grade level at any school. For example,
participants could ask what happens to space availability at Hawes if the
school adds an additional kindergarten class in 2012–13, or if a K–5 school
were to expand to K–8. In a few keystrokes, Parungao was able to show how
the total classrooms available at any school would change over time as a
new kindergarten class moved on to grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, or as a new sixth
grade moved on to grades 7 and 8. Parungao was also able to show what
happens if the state restores funding for K–3 class sizes of 20 students per
teacher in 2014, as the state has suggested it may do. K–3 class sizes in the
district currently stand at 30–31 students.
“It is daunting how complex [space capacity] is, not only in terms of considering
the situation right now, but there are so many unknowns, such as whether the
district will be able to return to class sizes of 20 in the future,” said Julie Brodie,
a parent participant on the committee. “It is tricky and complicated to figure
out the right direction, as well as where needs are versus where the space is.”
During the third meeting, Deputy Superintendent John Baker, who
oversees the district’s Schools of Choice program, presented a history of the
program choices in the district. Interestingly, Baker, who has been employed
with the district since 1981, served on the 1990 Citizen’s Advisory Council.
During the fourth meeting, Baker presented information on the trends and
evolution of educating sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students in the
United States. A panel of principals from a variety of schools in the district
shared the differences between 6–8 and K–8 schools in Redwood City.
“Over the years, I have seen the district adapt to the needs of the
community by changing or altering the programs at a number of schools,”
said Baker. “I’ve had the privilege of seeing schools grow and thrive based
on decisions made in the mid-1990s. After 20 years, it is a good time to reexamine
current community needs, and revisit earlier decisions to see if
adjustments need to be made or new programs offered.”
Members of the committee were selected through an application process
that ensured that every school had at least one parent or staff member
represented. The committee will continue to meet and will begin to formulate
recommendations for the superintendent at the next few meetings.
Redeemer Students Take on Washington DC
As part of Redeemer Lutheran School’s biannual week in Washington, D.C., seventh- and eighth-graders
were chosen to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Below: Cameron Cosentino, Daniel
Hayes, Amanda Hawley and Katey Zimmer were given final instructions by the U.S. Army Honor
Guard. These four students were selected based on a blind judging of their essays on what it would mean
to them to lay a wreath at the tomb. They were both nervous and excited to be a part of this very special
privilege. The wreath-laying happens after a changing of the guard at the tomb. The entire ceremony is
both awe-inspiring and emotional to witness, especially as the bugler plays taps to end the ceremony.
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