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Smaller, Safer, Saner, Successful Schoolsreview committee, comprised ofcommunity members, reviews theseproposals. Fifteen percent of all proposalswere funded in 2006.Fenway High SchoolKey educational features.Founded in 1983, Fenway is now in its24th year. It is one of the pioneers ofthe small schools movement. Namedone of the first “New American HighSchools” by the U.S. Department ofEducation, it has been designated asan “exemplar” by the Coalition ofEssential Schools. Fenway High Schoolenrolls 300 students (55 percentAfrican American, 20 percentHispanic, 20 percent Caucasian and5 percent Asian) in grades 9 through12.Fenway uses an advisory system,so each student is known well by atleast one faculty member. Each facultymember has about 20 advisees,with whom they meet several times aweek. Many of the students have thesame advisor for 3 to 4 years.Students are grouped into learningfamilies called houses.Fenway requires students to demonstratebusiness skill and knowledgeprior to graduation. About 90 communitymembers come into theschool twice a year to help judge studentprojects and tell the studentshow well they are doing comparedto “real world” expectations. An internshipwith a community agency orbusiness is required for graduation.Fenway collaborates with communityagencies, business, colleges, foundations,and organizations such as theBoston Museum of Science, a chainof pharmacies, and Harvard MedicalSchool to extend learning beyond32the school classroom.Key architectural features. Theschools are located in an old, formerindustrial building near many majorBoston arts organizations. The building’slibrary is shared with bothschools and with the BostonSymphony Teacher Resource Center,thus allowing it to be open longerhours, including every Saturday. Thelibrary is open to 6 p.m. three eveningsa week and every Saturdaymorning.Impact on students. Both schoolsare strong advocates for assessingstudents’ performance in variousways, including classroom-based diagnostics,portfolios, exhibitions, standardizedtests, work internships, integratedprojects, and college acceptance.Surveys of employers showthat Fenway students are very goodon the job and great team players.Eighty-five percent of Fenway’s studentsenrolling at ninth grade failstate and nationally normed standardizedtest. Four years later, 80 to85 percent from Fenway enter college.In 2006, 96% of Boston ArtsAcademy’s graduates went on to2-or 4-year colleges and receivedover $1,400,000 in grants and scholarshipassistance.For further information. Contact ,Head of School, Fenway High School,174 Ipswich Street, Boston Mass. 02215;(617) 635-9911, or fenwayhs.org, ;www.fenway.boston.k12.ma.us.Contact Head of School, Boston ArtsAcademy, 174 Ipswich Street, Boston,Mass. 02215; (617) 635-6470;http:// www.bostonartsacademy.org32a31a and 31b: The two schools arehoused in a building across the streetfrom Boston’s Fenway Field. Studentartwork is featured throughout thebuilding. 32a: Sharing space with theBoston Symphony Teacher ResourceCenter brings students together withcommunity residents.
SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ON SMALL SCHOOLS AND SHARED FACILITIESBuffalo King CenterBuffalo, New YorkA a beautiful place with achurch closes in a run down,low-income area of the city. It’s100-foot-high ceiling and stainedglass windows. The church was completedmore than 100 years ago andhas served generations of parishioners,but they have died or moved tothe suburbs. No congregation wantsit. What to do? In Buffalo, New York,the answer is to create a charterschool for elementary students. Theaward-winning King Center is theproduct of creativity and commitment.Key educational features. Onehundred five students in grades Kthrough 4 currently attend the school.The school environment is characterizedas a respectful and responsiblecommunity of learners where highlyqualified teachers work with smallgroups and where no class size exceeds21 students. The school plansto expand to 360 students througheighth grade. Partners in the schoolinclude the Teacher PreparationPrograms at Houghton College andBuffalo State College and the Schoolof Nursing at the Sate University ofNew York at Buffalo.Special attention has been givento the need to improve school readinessskills of students entering kindergartenat the King Center CharterSchool. Since charter school fundingin New York State is available only forstudents at the kindergarten level orhigher, King Center Charter has implementedan early admissions programthat makes it possible to admit3 and 4 year olds and, through thecommunity center, offer the Parent-Child Home Program as a schoolreadiness option for students who areadmitted early. Data gathered overthe past two years show that studentswho participate in the PCHP programscore higher on school readiness skillsevaluations upon entry into kindergartenand continue to score higheron standardized test through 2ndgrade (this is as far as the current testdata goes). Interested individualsand foundations have providedPCHP funding.33a33
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Page 7: Table o f ContentsAcknowledgements
Page 10 and 11: 66a
Page 12: Summary of Researchon Small Schools
Page 22 and 23: Smaller, Safer, Saner, Successful S
Page 29 and 30: School Case Studies
Page 31 and 32: SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ON SMALL SCHOOL
Page 35: SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ON SMALL SCHOOL

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