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South End News
Mason goes pilot
Principal readies for take-off
by Susanna Baird,
Associate Editor (July 3, 2003; p. 1)
Janet Palmer-Owens,
principal of the Mason Elementary School, looks primed for vacation. Her
hair is tucked into a Colgate University baseball hat, and her domain
— the red brick schoolhouse tucked into the industrial Newmarket
District of Lower Roxbury — is summer silent. While Palmer-Owens
will have a little downtime over the next two months, she’ll spend
most of the summer planning for Mason’s first year as a pilot school.
A week ago, the
Boston School Committee signed off on the Mason’s proposal to go
pilot. Its approval was contingent on two-thirds of Mason’s faculty
agreeing to the switchover. Palmer-Owens was nervous about achieving faculty
support. Many Boston Public Schools teachers considering pilot status
worry about losing union-won rights with regards to work hours and overtime
pay. So Palmer-Owens was surprised and happy when all but four Mason teachers
approved.
“At first,
they asked ‘Why are we going to do this?’” she said. But
after beginning the proposal process, the faculty began to see the change
as a plus. “We wanted to go to the next level. We’re a group
that won’t settle,” Palmer-Owens said.
The pilot school
designation was created in 1994 by the Boston Teachers Union and Boston
Public Schools to help stanch the flow of BPS children and funds into
charter schools. Pilot schools either start from scratch, like the new,
bright yellow Orchard Gardens School (K-8) on Melnea Cass Boulevard in
Lower Roxbury, or an existing school converts after winning two-thirds
faculty approval.
Achieving pilot
status allows a school more autonomy in five areas — governance,
scheduling, budget, curriculum, and hiring — while remaining part
of the BPS system, accountable to the school committee and subject to
state education standards.
Last fall, the Boston
Foundation, one of the country’s oldest community foundations, offered
$15,000 planning grants to help interested Boston public schools navigate
the pilot proposal-writing process. Thirty of the 134 schools in the Boston
system showed up at the initial planning meeting, and 13 subsequently
accepted the grant. Of those, four received School Committee approval
last week and will begin the pilot conversion process this fall. Several
more may still submit proposals to the School Committee later this year.
While switching
to pilot status is sometimes a means of turning a poorly-performing school
around, the Mason is already headed in the right direction. The school,
which hovered near the bottom of the popularity scale in the early ’90s,
is one of the most-chosen BPS schools. In the last few years, it’s
been named a national Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, a state Compass
Exemplary School, a city Effective Practice school and, most recently,
a Vanguard School, a designation recognizing math achievement.
Thirty percent of
the student body receives some form of special education (most Mason teachers
are certified in both elementary and special education), and 82 percent
come from families living at poverty level. Despite these disadvantages,
the students continue to score above the majority of public elementary
school students.
Mason teacher Jose
Rosa, who served on two pilot proposal subcommittees, said “a lot
of what we do is already close to what pilot schools do.” Now, he
and the rest of the Mason staff believe it’s time to “get to
the next level.”
This next school
year, the pilot transition begins with the formation of a governance board.
The principal will continue to manage the school and monitor operational
and personnel areas, and a group of teachers — the “Instructional
Leadership Team” — will be in charge of curriculum and instruction
issues, as well as professional development, but the board will now make
policy decisions and develop the annual budget.
The board has yet
to be chosen, but will include Palmer-Owens, four teachers elected by
the faculty, four parents elected by the Mason School Parent Council,
and three invited community, business, or university partners. The last
trio will not vote, and will probably include at least one member of the
Newmarket Business Association, a group that has tirelessly supported
the school with time and funds.
Once the board is
chosen, and its mission/vision statement formulated, Mason will get down
to the nitty-gritty. Details of their pilot plans were outlined in the
Mason Pilot School Proposal, drawn up by a team of faculty and parents.
The steps, some of which have already been implemented, include:
• Using the
budget flexibility to maximize the school’s potential. Said Rosa,
“we will be able to take some funds that are usually ‘untouchable’
and use them differently.”
• Instituting
a voluntary flexible schedule to allow interested teachers to work different
hours, with the primary goal of addressing afterschool program teaching
needs.
• Developing
a comprehensive plan for special education students.
• Increasing
parental involvement and placing the new Parent Center in a more pivotal
role, spanning the gap between home and school.
• Seeking partnerships
with community/business/academic institutions, including involving neighbors
in the life of the school.
• Creating a
brochure, independent Web site, and a series of press releases to attract
parent, student, teacher and media attention.
• Reviewing
current and potential means of assessing student performance.
• Forming a
“Student Support Team” to discuss strategies for at-risk students.
• Establishing
“Friends of the Mason” to focus on fund raising, “so I
don’t have to spend all my time writing grants,” joked Palmer-Owens.
After a year of
pilot schooling, the Mason will appear before the School Committee for
re-evaluation. Mason and its principal have a demanding year ahead. Palmer-Owens
is ready. “I love a challenge,” she said.
©
2003 South End News
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