Art academy teachers warming up for opening day.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - With the countdown on to opening day, staff from the Springfield School District's Academy of Arts and Academics spent this week learning how to teach their students decision-making skills.

But the training, provided by the Decision Education Foundation, based in Palo Alto, Calif., may prove useful to them, as well.

By day's end Thursday, Mike Fisher, who will be the school's director and theater teacher, said the group was zeroing in on the final details after close to two years of intense planning for the school, called A3 for short.

But much remains up in the air. For instance, what, precisely, will happen in the daily "advisory" class, in which students meet in small groups for an hour with a teacher/adviser? What will the much-touted arts courses look like? And just how scripted should course plans be?

"This is a really solid group of people, solid educators, but it's a big challenge to build a new school with this many personality types involved," said Josh Metzger, a 23-year-old Thurston High alumnus whose first job out of graduate school will be teaching language arts and social studies at A3.

The district in 2004 received a $312,000 grant from the Gates Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust to pay for planning and startup costs for the academy, which had hoped to enroll 120 students next year. Its mission is to blend rigorous academics, individualized attention, and professional-level media and theater arts and make all students "college-ready," whether or not they choose that path.

But first they need to settle into a home.

Because of various delays, the remodeling of the district-owned storefront that will serve as school headquarters is not yet complete. In fact, the district just received bids this week for the half-million-dollar project, which officials say won't wrap up until October.

Students will attend a retreat for the first three days in September, Fisher said, and after that most likely will come to classes at the Willamalane Memorial Building, where the district leases space. By mid-September, they also may be able to use the Richard E. Wildish Community Theater, envisioned as the hub for the school's theater arts program. It's undergoing a $2.7 million renovation.

Despite some unresolved details, staff members and district officials say they're confident of a strong start and committed to making the school a success.

Not all of their colleagues feel the same way. The project has met with skepticism from some teachers within the district, who worry A3 will weaken the district's two high schools by siphoning away students and resources. Some also question whether the current small-schools movement, fueled nationally by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will live up to its promise of lowering dropout rates and better preparing students for college.

"Some people would like to see this school fail," said Mark Lewis, a professional storyteller who will be one of A3's guest artists. As of this week, expected enrollment in A3 stood at 86, 17 of those students who were previously home-schooled or attended schools in neighboring districts. Of the remainder, 50 come from the Thurston High region, 16 from the Springfield High region and three from Gateways, a second-chance alternative high school. The school initially is accepting only ninth- and 10th-graders.

A3 will employ five teachers, an office manager and two contract guest artists, and will share a multicultural liaison with the high schools. Its annual budget will be about $500,000, and until next year, staffing levels at both Springfield and Thurston high schools will not decrease because of enrollment losses to A3, finance director Brett Yancey said.

A3 will not be able to offer foreign language classes until enrollment grows, Fisher said, but students will be able to take those courses - required for graduation - at either high school.

Meeting at least once a week since last year, A3 staff members have come up with a host of plans and ideas for the new school. Among them:

A "Downtown Project" in which students will complete downtown-focused research projects by gathering data, learning history and making connections with businesses and residents.

A semester-long project focused on immigration and migration that will be a focus in every class. Among other projects, students will participate an "immigration simulation" exercise evoking the Ellis Island experience.

The launch of four student "production companies" devoted to movie making and video; multicultural media sources; storytelling productions; and small, ensemble theatrical work.