Initiatives started at Forest Hills Elementary have worked so well in addressing the achievement gap that district leaders are expanding them to all elementary schools this fall.
Article by: KELLY SMITH , Star Tribune
At Forest Hills Elementary School in Eden Prairie, half of the students said goodbye earlier this month to head to new schools next fall as part of district-wide boundary changes. But they'll see some familiar programs at their new schools.
District leaders say programs and initiatives at Forest Hills have dramatically narrowed an achievement gap between white and black students and have proved so successful they're expanding the programs to the district's other elementary schools this fall.
"Forest Hills is blessed to have a really high-performing staff," Principal Connie Hytjan said. "We have some strategies that work."
Inspired by Forest Hills, all elementary schools will now have extra literacy programs each day, after-school activities and academic support, and positive behavior specialists. They're all initiatives started at the northern Eden Prairie school to better support its unique demographic as the highest-poverty elementary, with a student body that speaks 22 languages.
"These things are good for all kids," Hytjan said. "None of these things standing alone are rocket science. But to do this school-wide... it takes an intentional effort."
Four years ago, the district charged Forest Hills staff with putting together a new plan to address an increasingly diverse student population.
Part of that plan was a literacy model that ramps up literacy training to two hours a day. This summer, all of the district's elementary school teachers will be trained in it. With increased research nationally linking literacy to success in other academic subjects, school leaders say the extra reading time is vital.
"Reading is core to everything else," said Marsha Baisch, interim executive director of educational service for the district.
It's proved successful for Brent Carlson's fourth-grade daughter, who he said struggled until seeing huge gains this year at Forest Hills.
"She has benefited greatly from it," he said. "It takes reading from an art to a science."
The difference, he said, is that teachers use a tiered process. They spend 30 minutes introducing stories or teaching writing, the next 60 minutes coaching students in small groups while students read on their own, and a final 30 minutes reteaching and giving students individual assignments.
It's not just struggling students who benefit, Baisch added, because the model allows teachers to give one-on-one help by constantly monitoring students' progress and data.
"This is really benefiting for all students," she said. "I don't know that other school districts do that consistently. It takes time, it takes commitment."
Campus connections
Another program all Eden Prairie elementary schools will see next year is free after-school activities. Forest Hills started the program, "Campus Connections," three years ago to give every kid access each Wednesday to free after-school activities, from golf lessons to cooking classes. About 92 percent of its kids participated.
"That makes sure we don't have a participation gap for our students," Hytjan said.
Now this fall, every elementary will offer at least two four- to six-week free classes, from chess to ice-skating, put together and taught by teachers.
"It helps develop the whole child... developing their creative side and their active side," Baisch said.
Carlson's daughter participated in a leadership group that was part of the after-school activities. "It's an opportunity to expand beyond the school day and learn important things not necessarily part of the classroom," he said.
Also inspired by Forest Hills, every elementary will offer after-school academic support and tutoring for students in math and reading and have a positive behavior specialist who works one-on-one with kids and pro-actively teaches students social skills before trouble starts.
"We can't assume all kids come to school knowing these things," Hytjan said.
Other elementary schools also will incorporate elements of Forest Hills' Family Service Center, which provides services like English lessons to parents over Somali tea, a temporary dental clinic, and child care for parent volunteers.
Baisch said hiring five specialists is the biggest cost associated with expanding Forest Hills programs to all schools. For Hytjan, the programs are a worthwhile investment.
In her 15 years as Forest Hills' principal, she's watched demographics change dramatically. About 10 percent of her student body when she started was low-income, about 6 percent students of color. This past year, nearly 50 percent were low-income and 55 percent were students of color.
All the extra support for families has paid off, Hytjan said. The achievement gap between black and white students closed from 40 percent a few years ago to 10 percent this year in some grade levels.
This fall's controversial boundary changes, implemented by the district in part to prevent schools like Forest Hills from having such high concentrations of poverty, will move half of the 600 Forest Hills students to three other elementary schools. That will drop the school to about 30 percent low-income students. But Hytjan said the programs will still be needed.
"We're still going to have families in need," she said. "If we are about educating all kids, then we need to have programs for all kids."
Kelly Smith • 612-673-4141
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