What We Can Learn from Reid Park Elementary School
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting Reid Park Academy, a public elementary school led by Principal James Garvin.
Reid Park has some challenges. 99% of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. 12% of the students are homeless.
We tend to make assumptions about schools with those kinds of metrics — assumptions that are informed by phrases like “concentrated poverty” and “school-to-prison pipeline.”
But if you had been with me yesterday, here’s what you would have seen:
- Principal Garvin is a visionary who was brought in six years ago to take on a challenging school and turn it around. He hand-selected an administrative team that is enthusiastic about implementing best practices consistently and rigorously. And that’s what they’ve done. When you ask them about their work, they explain it in terms of well-defined systems that overlap and reinforce each other. There’s a depth of professionalism and experience that is almost overwhelming.
- In every single class, every student was watching the teacher, completing the assignments, doing what they were supposed to be doing.
- Every student has a digital device for customized learning — and they all know how to use it. Computers are fully integrated into their instructional experience.
- Every teacher is not only conveying a lesson, but is also conveying high expectations for each of his or her students. It’s not, “Johnny, what’s the answer?” It’s, “Johnny, you did well on this yesterday, can you tell us the answer today?”
- Every square-inch of every classroom is covered in bright, cheerful material related to the curriculum.
- In some of the classes the lights were dimmed and things felt a little more relaxed; in some they were bright and things felt more intense. Teachers use their discretion and decide what the kids need in that moment.
- Teacher assistants facilitate small group-based instruction based on students’ needs.
- There is a real culture of excellence that functions not just as a motto but as a real ethic, a living expectation of everyone there.
Yes, there are fundamental issues regarding concentrations of poverty and a persistent achievement gap that correlates. And I would argue that we haven’t given our public schools the support they deserve, and in some cases have actually made things harder for them.
But it’s also important to highlight that there are high-poverty schools that are fiercely determined to beat the odds and provide their students with a outstanding educational experience.
Schools like Reid Park are teaching us how to succeed under extremely challenging circumstances, and they deserve not just our commendation but our attention.
I took a lot of notes. I look forward to discussing what I learned with my colleagues as we head back into session.
