Small Schools
The small schools conversion began with the securing of a grant in 2005 from the Coalition of Essential Schools' (CES) Small Schools Project, a 5 year initiative backed by the education arm of the Gates Foundation. An initial $305,000 was received for planning. This planning process involved 5 committees of teachers, parents, and students forging out the specifics of each school of no more than 400 students, such as its themes and what part of the Olympic campus it would be located in. The hiring of principals and visits to other CES affiliated schools across the country were also covered. The results were presented at the end of the 05-06 school year to CES for a further $1.3 million for the next two years.
Students, at first skeptical and not wanting to be separated from friends, have taken a liking to Olympic's more intimate atmosphere that has afforded principals to get to know them by name. There have been challenges, however, like setting up channels of communication among the 5 schools. The 5 schools are known for their diversity. Such as in Renaissance,students can learn art,music,and theatre if they have performing aspirations. METS students learn how to be engineers through math,technology,and science. Biotech prepares their students for the medical field by showing them numerous healthcare career options through courses like Principles of Biomedical Science and Human Body Systems. Global teaches their students economics and levels of leadership. Finally,Business offers several finance classes to prepare students for the field of business.
Critics say the small schools movement is new, and few schools have produced long-term academic results. They also emphasize the importance of reform not stopping at smaller settings. For instance, generic courses driven by multiple-choice tests being replaced with challenging projects linked to real-life results. This involves a certain degree of experimentation and creativity that can be hobbled by district mandates, too many teachers relying on routine, budget restraints, and a test-driven culture instituted by an array of local and national achievement exams. There has been some success with project-based learning at Olympic, most notably with a 1,150-square-foot (107 m2), three-bedroom Habitat for Humanity house for a family in northwest Charlotte built on school property by advanced construction students in Olympic's METS school, with the $70,000 required for the project raised in part by students in the Business school.
Most agree that dealing with these obstacles at Olympic will require extraordinary leadership and leaps of faith by all parties involved. There has been a noticeable increase in involvement by parents and the community. For instance, attendance for athletic events in 2006-07 was the highest since 1982, and a $10 million capital campaign was started by parents and community residents for facility improvements. It is the hoped that enthusiasm like this can be sustained and even grow as Olympic's success is measured in the coming years.
Read more about this topic: Olympic Community Of Schools
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