My daughter is a Freshman at Skyline. Thus far, it has been a horrible experience for both my daughter and I. First, she didn’t get in to any of the elective classes that she chose. Spanish class was her first and really her only choice. But,due to one of the spanish teachers leaving and not being replace (other spanish classes full/ over-crowded) it left a substantial amount of students having to elect other classes.
Our major and most concerned problem with Skyline is the structuring of the 9th grade “Atlas House/ System”. In the Atlas system, each ninth grader shares the same four teachers for Math, Social Studies, English, and Science. The students are divided into 6 different groups/teams. So basically your classes 1-6 period are made up of your Atlas House teammates/ students. The purpose is to provide teachers with a greater opportunity to intercommunicate about the students social and academic development(this sounds great,right?).
However, when the teams were implemented I don’t believe any consideration was given for students GPA, behavior problems, and social and academic development. In other words not all of the teams have a well balance of students. Unfortunately, my daughter was placed on a team with a majority of students who are failing (insufficent GPA) and who has behavioral problems/ constant class disruption. The worst part is these same students feed through all of her classes/ periods.
This program could work with well-balanced teams.
On a good note: My daughter will be transfering to another house 2nd semester! (I had to provide proof, examples and constant visits to the 9th grade Admin)
Noted: To date Skyline has not provided me with specifics on how teams were assessed.

Noted: I think Skyline and the other Oakland Public Schools mentioned can work only if you are a dedicated,active always present parent.

Respectfully,

I just re-read what you wrote about Machiavelli and Socratic Method – It’s kind of funny because I just had discussions last week with my fourth grade daughter about both of those topics. They came up this way – - -

Recently, I have been working as a contractor with a company in which the “rules of the game” are not stated, not even implied and if you come in one day, you may find that you can no longer send email with attachments. We were talking about the CEO – rather than being direct – was behaving in a Machiavellian manner – then we talked about a series of books we have been listening to on CD (The Immortal Nicholas Flamel) and how one of the characters is named Machiavelli and his lack of direct manner is where we got the term.

We discussed Socratic discussion because instead of having literature circles my daughters teacher has the students answer 10 questions about a book they have read using Scholastic “Reading Counts”. My daughter believes this is to “prove” she read the book rather than to “explore the meaning of the book deeply – like, you know, Socratically.”

Yet, we recently went to a couple of middle school open houses and they talked about Latin being easy for the students who knew Spanish well and I did the same tight jaw and wriggling in my seat.

I’d agree with almost everything you say about Skyline. My autistic son is a senior there this year, and doing fabulously well. Every year he’s had the supports he needed, and things just keep getting better and better for him. We’re going to miss our Skyline community after he graduates.

The one thing I don’t agree with is your opinion of Wandra Boyd. In my family’s experience, not being of African decent, we weren’t worthy of her notice. Mrs. Boyd is a “fierce advocate”, and a tireless one, but *only* for the African American students, not for *all* students.

That’s okay with us because we didn’t need her advocacy. We’ve done a pretty good job of self-advocacy for our son. And the Family Resource Center at Skyline has other involved parents who seem to be much more nearly color-blind. CPAAS isn’t for every student and family at Skyline, but there are other good resources available on the campus.

(I’ve tried to write this in a way that wouldn’t be offensive – discussing race can be so difficult – but if I’ve inadvertently offended anyone of any race, I most humbly apologize.)

Ohigh:
Asian 47%
African American 30%
Hispanic or Latino 17%
Multiple or No Response 2%
White 1%
Pacific Islander 1%
Filipino 1%
American Indian or Alaska Native <1%

70% qualify for free/reduced lunch.

I will not go into detail as it has already been stated previously in this thread…however I will share the results of the work we have done.

The systems that have been put in place have vastly changed the culture in the 9th grade. The students feel a part of something larger than themselves and they are aware of the work the teachers are doing to support them. Walk into any 9th grade classroom before school, at lunch, or after school and you will find it full with students who are coming for extra support from their teachers.

The constant contact between teachers (who use a google group to share pertinent information) helps the students to be successful in the classroom. Rarely does a student struggle in 1 class when all the student’s teachers are not made aware of the concern. Through our work in just 1 marking period we have taken many failing students and turned them into college bound students. The support is there and the students are taking off, both academically and behaviorally, because of it.

In my (obviously somewhat biased) opinion Tech is at the forefront for supporting our 9th grade students. Some of the hardest working and best teachers this district has to offer CHOOSE to teach 9th grade year after year. If your student attends Tech as a 9th grader he or she will be in excellent hands. The staff is 100% committed to working with our 9th graders.

Clearly, our work with the Small Learning Communities is a work in progress. However, we work tirelessly to change what it means to be a 9th grader at Tech. This is a great school, with a great staff, and we have an excellent support system for 9th graders.

Everywhere I go, people have Tech on the tip of their tongue, but there is virtual silence around O High (in my experience). O High is our neighborhood school and while many local parents are flocking to Edna Brewer Middle School and (deservedly) singing its praises, O High does not even seem to be on our radar yet! Even among the posters here, there seems to be a lot more support for Skyline and Tech. Lots of us 7th and 8th grade parents rely on word of mouth to supplement our decisions and narrow down our choices as to where to apply, so it’ll take a lot of positive press for parents to even consider O High. Does O High have a strong PTSA? What should neighborhood parents know about this school and why aren’t folks talking about it?