Come and see!

What a long strange trip its been!

When I was a teacher, the period between the end of Easter vacation and the last day of class for the year was often a mad rush to complete the curriculum and at the same time to begin to reflect on how the year went.  This school year, which began on September 8, 2020, has been, for me, the longest school year of my life! This animated map shows the timeline of how COVID spread at the beginning of last calendar year.  Schools closings, many of us sheltering in place, the rise of Zoom and at the time of this writing, 571,464 people dead from COVID in the United States...those dark and scary days of early 2020 are deeply etched in my memory!

Time lapse animation of COVID spread

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Yet, at the same time, Partnership Schools Cleveland was born with a signed agreement with then Bishop Perez on February 13, 2020, and began managing Archbishop Lyke and St. Thomas Aquinas grade schools officially on July 1, 2020.  So when I look back on these past months I also remember the joy and excitement that came into my life amidst this tragic period of history.

Holy Impatience!

Derrick Smith, a fourth grader at Archbishop Lyke, has taken us by storm!  The link below leads to you to his remarkable story...he wasn't going let a pandemic get in his way!!

 

Click here to read his amazing story!!

Schedule a visit--virtual or in person!

With vaccinations in place we are beginning limited visits to our schools.  Our school day begins at 8 AM and ends at 4 PM.  On Wednesdays we have professional development for our teachers and students are dismissed at 1:30 PM. If you are not comfortable with in person visits, we can arrange a Zoom visit as well!  Please call me at 216-409-7018 or email me to arrange.  Seeing is indeed believing!!

The Truth Behind ’40 Acres and a Mule’

Henry Louis Gates wrote a brief history of this...I found it astonishing.  I had never been taught the whole story!  Click here for the story!

New kid in town!

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A Makeover worthy of HGTV

For illustration purposes only

George Grenier, our facilities director, came to town this past week.  He had already connected with diocesan facilities people, Dominic Ozanne of Ozanne Construction, and Paul Siemborski of the DLR group before arriving.  He spent his first day talking with the principals of our two Cleveland schools, St. Thomas Aquinas and Archbishop Lyke.  Initial plans for work to take place over the next 6-8 weeks were presented to our Cleveland Facilities Committee on Tuesday.

I cannot wait to be there in August when our staff and students come back (in whatever way that will happen).  Every interior surface will be repainted, floors stripped and polished, railing added where needed, lighting upgraded, bathroom facilities modernized, carpet replaced, blackboards replace by whiteboards, exteriors spruced up where needed, landscaping improved, new classroom code compliant doors, signage upgraded, and more!

Meanwhile our assistant Superintendent Christian Davallis has been and will continue to work with our two principals, Nancy Lynch and Rachael Dengler, concerning leadership training, faculty professional development, and new curriculum role out.  Our two principals have been working and are on fire with a renewed passion!

Enrollment on the rise

We have set an agressive enrollment growth goal of a total of 25% new students in both schools.  Presently we are at a 5% growth rate.  The great news is that the Cleveland Voucher program is reopening on July 1.  Summer is a time when Catholic schools in the city are still seeking new admissions.  The added incentive of being able to sign up and getting the voucher is a definite shot in the arm.  We clearly know that admissions is quite challenging in the time of COVID, but we are still aiming high!

A Thought Experiment

This week I had the occasion to be invited to Canterbury Golf Club to exhibit my amazing ability to hit a golf ball 100+ times and walk 7000 yards! I accomplished both, not without effort! I was at Saint Martin before I left and I took E. 55th to Woodland Road.  It dawned on me that Canterbury, in Shaker Heights, is actually on the same road.  It is 7.4 miles and took me 18 minutes.  The change in scenery from E. 55th and Woodland to 22000 S. Woodland Rd. was absolutely mind blowing.  What changes happened to create this dramatic chasm.

Woodland Ave in the 50's

Woodland Ave Now

This article gives a basic history.  I strongly urge you to read this.  I think it would be an excellent history project for a high school to take on.  Have students drive along one of our major streets (Superior, St. Clair, Chester to name a few) from downtown to the suburbs and then encourage them to research and answer the question, "How did this happen?"

"public" education

I visited a high school in Cleveland named John Hay. It is really three high schools housed in one completely remodelled building ($31M). It is run by the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD). The students there are among the luckiest in Cleveland. The school I visited was the one for science and medicine (9-12). I spent two hours with the principal and left with a feeling of uncertainty and also anger...why? There are 50,000 kids in the CMSD, roughly about 4,000 a grade (probably more in the lower grades due to drop out rate, but for purposes of argument let's say 4000 a grade).

I am most interested in high school. Five years ago a small group of people began a high school on Cleveland's east side...it has been quite successful and now has 388 students 9-12. One of the criticism's we get is that we are a Catholic school and therefore somehow exclusive. Actually we do not have an entrance exam, we interview all comers, your religious background or lack thereof is not considered, just a willingness to join us and the ability to learn...anyway back to the story. And we charge very little tuition and each student works at a real job five days a month at law firms, hospitals, manufacturing, banks etc. See http://www.cristoreynetwork.org/

So where do these 4000 8th graders have a choice to go? With the exception of the few small schools like John Hay they can go to large schools like East High, East Tech, Collinwood, Martin Luther King, Rhodes, John Marshall...most are over a 1000 kids in the building and school day ends at 1:30-2PM. Graduation rates are hard to come by for individual schools but they range from 30-50% at these schools.

So at first blush it seems like John Hay and schools like it in Cleveland and, as I have come to find out, throughout large urban districts elsewhere, are a godsend. Well they are--if you can get in!

Here are some things I heard the principal say about admission to John Hay. All freshmen need to be able to start math at geometry (this would eliminate most freshmen at Saint Ignatius High school). They are all interviewed, their tests scores, grades, and how they did on the entrance exam are all part of the rubric. He thinks that this coming year he will have 1000 applicants for 125 spots. He also said that 15% are out of district and their goal is 25%!!

Then we asked what his school day was...he said it was 8 AM to 3:18 (very similar to ours). Then the bombshell...because of the union he needs two faculties...early and late to cover the school day. I don't really understand this fully. I will look more into this but the union has rules about hours taught each day, prep time etc so that in order to have a 7 hour and 18 minute day he needs two shifts!!!

I came away with this perhaps simplistic view. What Cleveland is doing is really what Catholic schools were accused of doing...they are cherry picking the very bright students, putting them in a "private school" atmosphere and leaving the rest of the kids to go to "box" schools which have dismal prospects of success.

I wonder what our school could do with $31M of capital money and two complete faculties!