Thinking Small

Outside Julia Richman High School, a dumpster sits on the curb, filled with discarded desks that are a mishmash of metal legs and worn wooden tops with inkwells. Inside the grand brick building, work crews diligently work to repair the holes in the wooden floors left behind by these desks. The classrooms were once filled with rows and rows of these desks.

Originally built in 1927 as an elite all-girls’ public school, Julia Richman High School is now undergoing a transformation. In its previous state, the school had deteriorated to a last-resort option, with graffiti on the walls and weapons scanners at the entrance.

The traditional assembly-line approach to education, represented by the orderly rows of desks, had long proven ineffective. Only 37 percent of the school’s 2,800 students were able to graduate within four years. Less than three-quarters of the student body attended school on a regular basis, and many students struggled to accumulate enough credits to advance to the next grade.

In 1993, the New York City board of education, in collaboration with the local branch of the Coalition of Essential Schools, announced the phase-out of Julia Richman High School. In its place, they established six small high schools that would serve the 9th graders from Julia Richman’s attendance zone.

In its new incarnation, the historic building will become a microcosm of education. It will house some of the small high schools, as well as new elementary and middle schools, an infant-and-toddler center, and a professional-development institute for teachers. This project lies at the heart of a sweeping movement taking hold in New York City. Over the past three years, 50 small secondary schools have opened, serving around 20,000 students. This crusade received a substantial endorsement when publisher and philanthropist Walter H. Annenberg awarded a $50 million challenge grant to the city, with a portion dedicated to opening an additional 50 small schools.

Similar efforts are underway in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia, where Annenberg has also provided significant grants. While small size alone does not guarantee success, it does provide teachers and students with a better opportunity to thrive. Large, impersonal schools have proven to be problematic in urban areas across the country, as evidenced by the glaring issues they face. In New York City, it is disheartening to note that around 20 large high schools, accommodating nearly 65,000 students, see less than a third of incoming freshmen graduate within four years.

Advocates for smaller schools believe that size directly impacts the quality of education, and they will closely monitor the progress of New York City’s new schools. The differences between these schools and their larger counterparts are evident from the complaints voiced by students. Vivian Canada, a 10th grader, describes her experience at Vanguard High School. She mentions how they are constantly with the same classmates, with only two or three classes available. The monotony of the classes and the repetition of information, especially when someone is absent, is a common occurrence. Louis Delgado, the director of Vanguard High, listens intently to Canada’s description of the school. As he hears her thoughts, he emphasizes that the school is not like a factory. The traditional model of disconnected subjects taught in short bursts is vastly different here. He also stresses that there is no anonymity in this small community, and that students who are late or absent are held accountable.

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The reasons why the statistics would improve are not difficult to understand. Compared to schools with a large number of adolescent students, small schools provide a much more welcoming environment for both students and teachers. In these small schools, no teachers work alone, and no students are overlooked or neglected.

Samuel Ragoonath, who had been teaching at a traditional junior high for 12 years before joining Vanguard, observes significant changes in students’ behavior since they first enter the school. He mentions that their initial defensive stance fades away as they become more comfortable and start helping each other in class. Ragoonath also notices this transformation in new students who initially think that everyone is out to harm them but then realize that Vanguard is a different kind of place where they don’t have to put on a tough facade. Ragoonath’s classroom, like many others in these new high schools, is adorned with posters of African-American leaders, such as Malcolm X, and showcases students’ drawings depicting scenes from Animal Farm.

Ragoonath explains that his previous school had low standards and solely focused on maintaining control. However, at Vanguard, teachers gather every day after school to engage in staff development and lesson planning. This collaborative approach is quite different from simply being informed about the books to be used for the 8th grade. Ragoonath emphasizes the importance of knowing his students personally, understanding their capabilities, likes, and dislikes, which helps him tailor his teaching approach accordingly. He highlights a conversation he had with Julie Anne Torres, a 9th grader, who expresses her satisfaction with the teachers at Vanguard because they assist her when she struggles with her work. Torres also acknowledges that her previous group of friends in junior high influenced her negatively, but now her friends at Vanguard are focused on their studies, which motivates her to perform better as well.

In Barbara Lopez’s humanities class, students collaborate comfortably in groups, working on crafting opening statements for a mock trial based on a Fourth Amendment case. Lopez, a former employee of IBM who is now in her first teaching job, believes that many of these students are highly intelligent and shouldn’t be penalized for the low educational standards they were exposed to before. She questions how it is fair to judge a student’s writing abilities if they were never taught properly. Lopez describes Vanguard as a safe and supportive environment, where she can easily engage with her students on a personal level. She mentions that some of them are surprised and suspicious when she approaches them in a positive manner, as they are accustomed to adults interacting with them negatively.

Opening six new high schools at a time when New York City was facing an asbestos crisis was undoubtedly a challenging situation. The start of the school year was delayed, and the board of education faced difficulties in finding suitable spaces for the schools and arranging necessary renovations. Vanguard, for example, had to relocate multiple times during its first year, from an armory to a noisy and dark auditorium, then to Long Island for a week-long Project Adventure ropes course, and finally to a gloomy junior high in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. However, this month, Vanguard has finally settled into its permanent home in the Julia Richman building. Another new school, the Coalition School for Social Change, faced a similarly unfavorable situation in a windowless building in East Harlem, already overcrowded with four other schools. Charlene Jordan, the school’s director, describes the experience as unbelievable and explains the challenges of establishing a positive sense of community in such an environment. The only unifying goal was to eventually leave that building. Despite the circumstances, the teachers made the best of the situation by utilizing Central Park as their classroom and taking students on educational trips to museums, Ellis Island, boat trips, libraries, and walking tours of the city’s diverse neighborhoods.

Presently, the school administration is reaching out to ensure that all students arrive at their designated workplaces. It is quite a ambitious undertaking for a relatively small school, but the director is resolute in her determination to make it successful. In order to recruit the staff, Rabiner sought assistance from the Urban Academy, a coalition high school that has been in existence for nine years and will be relocating to the Julia Richman building along with some of the new schools. Prospective applicants were required to be familiar with and understand the principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools, possess intelligence and good knowledge base, and show a strong interest in working within a new school environment. After conducting interviews with a total of 65 candidates, the first six teachers were hired.

As the school has now opened its doors, Rabiner has concerns that she and her teachers will not have the luxury of time to conduct such thorough searches for new staff members. Already, when faced with the need to replace a departing teacher, she had to rely on a recommendation from another principal to hire someone who was relatively unknown.

Over the past year, the school has experienced a loss of 18 students. Some left because their parents did not approve of the school’s location in Harlem. Others were disciplinary issues or struggled academically due to their inability to read. Rabiner now states that they are attracting students who actively choose to attend their school. In their inaugural year, they essentially accepted any and every student that was sent their way by school counselors, often receiving those who were rejected by other schools. This is not to imply that these students were not great in their own right. Rabiner emphasizes that the faculty has put in extraordinary effort and is making significant progress.

Nevertheless, the workload is significantly burdensome. Rabiner wears multiple hats as the librarian, bookkeeper, office manager, and counselor. She feels as though she has sacrificed her personal life for the school. She recognizes a stark contrast between her vision for the school and the current reality.

Nonetheless, she has managed to achieve one of her goals: there is no apathy amongst the students within the building. One will never witness a student with their head on the desk or staring out the window.

As Charlene Jordan gazes forlornly at the basketballs on top of a filing cabinet in her office, she laments the fact that they will not be able to use them that day. Students brought them, hoping to play. However, the school is faced with unfortunate circumstances as the gymnasiums they had been using at a local college and the Y.M.C.A. are currently unavailable. Jordan must now come up with an alternative plan. She makes a quick decision that the boys can play football in a nearby park, while the girls will stay within the building for aerobics and double-Dutch. While the students engage in physical activity, the teachers will have designated planning time.

Jordan accuses the board of education of making a significant oversight by not providing schools with suitable spaces for children to engage in physical exercise. She sighs and expresses her frustration at the fact that there is no way to secure funding from the board to rent a space or have purchasing power. The school is reliant on the goodwill and generosity of others.

The smaller high schools also do not have dedicated art and music teachers, although some work in collaboration with community organizations to provide enrichment programs after school. Teachers make an effort to incorporate art into the curriculum. For instance, at Landmark High, students engage in drawing activities within their advisory groups, in addition to focusing on study skills, planning field trips, and reading.

At Jordan’s Coalition School for Social Change, the current academic challenge revolves around portfolios. There is a concerted effort to have 10th graders complete their portfolio requirements. The school has scheduled bi-weekly portfolio workshops in an attempt to meet this goal, but students are met with resistance. Jordan enthusiastically explains that with portfolios, the responsibility for education is placed on the students themselves. It is not simply about fulfilling seat time or attendance requirements, but rather about producing high-quality work, demonstrating willingness to revise and edit, and continuously striving for improvement until everyone is satisfied. This approach seeks to change students’ mindset and it is rather ludicrous to expect them to embrace it after years within the current educational system.

Julia Richman, a remarkable woman born in 1855, was a trailblazing principal who dedicated her life to educating immigrant children in this country. She was appointed superintendent of schools in the Lower East Side at the beginning of the 20th century, a neighborhood that was often the first home for newcomers. Her sister, Bertha K. Proskauer, describes her work as focused on Americanizing and integrating immigrant children, reflecting her truly humanitarian and uplifting approach.

The school that bears her name, located in the prestigious Upper East Side neighborhood, is surprisingly quiet. Officially, the building still has around 900 students: juniors and seniors from a phased-out school, special-education students whose building is undergoing renovations, and students from Talent Unlimited, a high school that originated from a program at Julia Richman. The Talent Unlimited and special-education students are easily spotted, but it’s harder to find the Julia Richman students. There are clusters of students in the messy lunchroom and some in the gymnasium, huddled against the wall, wearing their coats and listening to a teacher sitting at a desk.

Gino Silvestri, the principal, notes that approximately 20 percent of the students are absent on any given day. In the vast building, the rest seem to disappear.

The first floor of the school has been freshly painted in bright yellow and green coats. There is a stunning auditorium that resembles a private theater. The school also boasts two gymnasiums and a swimming pool. The doorknobs are like precious gems: solid, polished brass ovals engraved with the words "Public School, City of New York."

Julia Richman was popular among teachers and administrators due to its convenient and safe location. Although technically open only to students in its designated zone and Manhattan residents, the school enrolled students from Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, suggesting that it accepted students to maintain enrollment and protect teaching positions, according to Stephen Phillips, the superintendent of alternative high schools. Despite having an official capacity of 2,350 students, Julia Richman’s enrollment sometimes reached as high as 3,000.

Even though the bustling crowds have disappeared, seven security personnel remain on high alert. Students must present their photo IDs and schedules to enter the lunchroom, and they are not allowed to use the elevators. Only specific doors can be used, and every morning they go through weapon scans. However, Marcia Brevot, the co-director of the Coalition Campus project, promises that the lock-down mentality will change when the Coalition Campus schools settle in. Brevot, a retired educator, is facilitating the transition for the Julia Richman schools and four other similar schools that are gradually replacing James Monroe High School in the South Bronx. This initiative is led by the Center for Collaborative Education, the local affiliate of the Coalition of Essential Schools, which has raised $3 million in private donations for professional development and to launch the schools.

Over the past two years, the directors and teachers of the Coalition Campus schools have participated in summer institutes to plan their programs, develop curricula, and exchange ideas. These networks of small schools also serve as a powerful platform for professional development, allowing teachers to share their expertise and avoid repeating past mistakes in brand-new schools.

Even after spending many years in an educational system notorious for wearing people down, Brevot becomes passionate when discussing failing high schools. She passionately denounces the statistics of schools where only one in 15 or one in 20 students ever graduate, finding such circumstances truly outrageous.

The funding system implies that the establishment of new schools does not require additional funding from the budget. Phillips clarifies that regardless of the schools they attend, 23 students generate enough funds to cover a teacher’s salary. With the support of the union, it has become possible to both close failing schools and open new ones with like-minded teachers. The new high schools allocate 90 percent of their finances to classroom resources, allowing for small classes of approximately 15 students each. These schools operate without deans, department chairs, or assistant principals. As they reach their maximum capacity of 300 to 400 students, they may consider investing in some administrative support.

However, the current budget crisis faced by the school system poses a threat to these new schools. John Ferrandino, the supervising superintendent of high schools, expresses concern about the financial support required for the foundation of these newly established schools. Although they have managed to overcome obstacles so far, he fears for the upcoming year.

Next year, Julia Richman will experience a significant transformation. Alongside Vanguard, another new high school, Manhattan International will relocate to the premises. Additionally, a transitional program for college-bound students and Urban Academy, a high school focused on inquiry, will be established there to contribute their expertise. Talent Unlimited, despite not being part of the original plan, will remain at Julia Richman due to political pressures from influential supporters.

Urban Academy, currently housed within a Manhattan high school and accommodating 110 students, uses its office as a central gathering place for students and staff. The facility is filled with desks, computers, and filing cabinets, creating crowded aisles that people navigate through. The student’s work decorates the walls. A sign above the door states, "Blackboards, Not Bodybags." Ann Cook, the co-director, aims to replicate the vibrant atmosphere at Julia Richman that exposes students to the inner workings of schools.

According to Cook, most attempts at high school reform fail because they focus on individual teachers, add-on programs, or the creation of artificial "houses" consisting of unrelated students and teachers. She asserts that to create functional schools, it is crucial to establish a sense of community between adults and students. The aspect that keeps people motivated to work in this environment is its inherent interest. Schools must be engaging places for educators to thrive professionally.

Rabiner, the director of Landmark High and her counterparts at other new schools acknowledge that the work never ends. However, despite moments of exhaustion, Rabiner remains confident that she and her teachers are on the right path. She cautions against hailing small schools as the ultimate solution to all educational challenges. Nonetheless, she believes that moving in this direction is in the best interest of the students.