Delivering the promise to 9th graders: One city's experiment in single-grade schooling proves rewarding for staff and students.

Ninth grade can be a time of incredible anxiety for teenagers as they struggle with peer pressure, independence, self-identity and academics. Research shows that among high school students, 9th graders have the lowest grade point average and the greatest number of discipline referrals.

If students have been somewhat disenchanted with school thus far, their experiences in the 9th grade may be a determining factor in whether they graduate from high school.

Ten years ago, in an atmosphere of high hopes and more than a little second guessing, the community members in Alexandria, Va., committed to a new way of educating their 9th-grade students. In doing so, they promised to help the city's 14- and 15-year-olds make a positive transition from middle school to high school and, they hoped, defy the national trend toward underachievement associated with the 9th-grade year.

Alexandria is an urban district. More than 50 percent of the city's 700 9th grade students qualify for federally subsidized meals, 18 percent are studying English as a second language and another 18 percent receive special education services. Yet, at Minnie Howard School in Alexandria, 40 percent study at the honors level and consistently earn honor roll or merit roll status. What's more, of the 781 9th-grade students we served during the 2000-200 1 school year, only 25 were suspended for 10 days or more.

No one would have guessed that isolating 9th graders in their own school would create such positive results.

Separate and Apart

In 1992, the citizens of Alexandria found themselves deliberating how to best educate the city's 9th-grade students.

Faced with an enrollment surge in the lower grades and a statewide push away from traditional junior high school programs, the Alexandria City Public Schools had decided to move the 6th grade students out of the elementary schools and into newly configured 6-8 middle schools. But the city's only high school, T.C. Williams, was already crowded and had not been designed to house 9"' graders.

Tight budgets and a shortage of available land focused their discussions on the feasibility of converting the 1950s-vintage Minnie Howard Elementary School, which at the time housed the district s central offices, into an educational facility solely for 9th graders. After more than 15 months of vigorous debate about finances, staffing, leadership, safety, school climate and the entire gamut of questions that must be answered when designing an effective school, the Minnie Howard School began to take shape.

Planning and implementation were based on a solid foundation of what effective education looks like and a commitment to its goals and vision.

Students would be assigned to teams of 130 to 140, with a common core of 10 teachers. Each team would mirror the school as a whole in terms of academic and demographic categories. All courses would be offered at an honors level and a general level, and no class would exceed 24 students.

Every teacher, with the exception of a few in special education or ESL programs, would teach five classes and prepare content at both the honors and the general levels. Each teacher would serve as an academic adviser to 13 to 15 students on the team, with time in the daily schedule to touch base. And students would retain their full status as high schoolers, participating in high school activities, sports and so forth.

Guiding Principles

When I was appointed principal of Minnie Howard School, I immediately got to work meeting with teachers, citizen groups, architects, facilities specialists, central-office leaders and the myriad other people so crucial to establishing a new school.

At my side was our associate principal, who was the 9th-grade principal at one of the city's junior high schools. His knowledge of the community, staff and students has proven invaluable during the past nine years.

The guiding principles of our leadership team are relatively simple. We make every decision in light of what is best for the kids, thereby building classrooms and hallways that feel good, where every child is celebrated. We act as if every detail matters--because it does.

Our goal is to create a school culture in which students and adults play by the same rules and in which students and adults are connected to their school and their community. We insist that every child belongs to every adult in the building and establish structures so that each adult knows well 13 to 15 students and their families.

We create a new master schedule each year to reflect the specific needs of that year's unique students. We listen to every child before making academic or behavioral recommendations and we listen to every teacher and give each what she or he needs to be effective.

Keys to Success

In December 2001, the Education Trust named Minnie Howard School one of only two "high flying" secondary schools in the metropolitan Washington area. This recognition is given to schools that serve a student body that is more than 50 percent minority, more than 50 percent of whose students qualify to receive federally subsidized meals or both (as in our case) and yet whose students achieve higher scores than 70 percent of the rest of the state on statewide standardized tests.

How does success happen in a bustling urban school when so many factors could be working against student success? The keys are maintaining a consistent, talented staff, holding high expectations for adults and students, providing support at every juncture and listening to the children.

Most obstacles we have faced along the way were the outgrowth of asking people to work differently. Here are just a few examples of the programs we implemented at Minnie Howard School that were unfamiliar to many, yet were embraced and proved to be keys to our success:

* Create a teacher adviser component.

Many of our staff members considered this role as an extra, uncompensated duty. The associate principal and I worked hard the first three years to convince them that if they would do just two things--teach the kids well and get to know them and their families through this advisory period--we would do the rest.

At the time it was a big promise on our part. We took over hall duty, bus duty, cafeteria duty, bathroom duty, detentions, etc., so they could be teachers and advisers. Once the staff realized all of those non-teaching duties really were taken off their shoulders, they embraced the vision of Minnie Howard School with enthusiasm.

* Eliminate in-school suspension.

When the school was established, the school board regulations permitted any teacher to "exclude" any student for as long as he or she deemed necessary. This seemed to fly in the face of holding teachers and students accountable for learning.

Neither the associate principal nor I had ever seen an in-school suspension program that improved student behavior or achievement and saw no need to add this structure to our program.

So we developed a behavioral plan based on the four Cs: commitment, compassion, conversation and consequences. We promised our staff that if they would work through the first three Cs with each student, we would surely be able to guarantee appropriate consequences. The our-of-class referrals for all of the city's 9th- grade students now are less than 10 percent of what they were in 1992-93.

* Teach five classes.

In most high schools, department chairs teach fewer than five classes and often teach only the best and the brightest. We asked all of our staff, including our team and content leaders, to not only teach five classes, but also to teach all kids. Over time, this has led to smaller class sizes, innovative mainstream recovery programs, high-quality instruction for all students and a democracy among staff that puts new teachers and veterans in the comfort zone of equality.

Our adult structures model for the students the equal opportunities and equally high expectations we have for each of them. A crucial outgrowth of this approach is that our staff members become both content experts and developmental experts on the learning styles and needs of young teen-agers.

* Institute a school support team.

Each week our three counselors, two social workers, nurse, alternative programs coordinator and administrators meet for 70 minutes under the leadership of the school psychologist to discuss students who are referred to us as needing assistance. We follow up weekly, trying to ensure no child slips through the cracks in terms of academics, attendance, self-esteem and social development.

Once a child is placed on the at-risk list for whatever reason, he or she is assigned a case manager who coordinates services and follows the progress of the student throughout the year. We then help these students make the transition to the senior high school by working with the staff at T.C. Williams High School.

Stewards of Promise

In the late and early 1990s, a rolling thunder developed in the news media and in academia claiming that American public schools could not educate our kids. The Alexandria community effectively challenged that statement through trust, commitment and attention. It's all in the details, and our staff focuses with laser accuracy on the task of educating 14- and 15-year-olds.

We know our school works because we listen to the voices of our kids, our staff and the families in our community. Our graduates tell us about the impact this one-year school has had on their lives, teaching them to believe in their capacity to advocate for themselves and others, and to embrace the challenges of high expectations.

Our staff members brag to their colleagues that in addition to extremely high standards and expectations at our school, the level of support, care and concern for each other makes our job that much more rewarding.

Sociologist and educator Robert Bellah said that we get the institutions we give ourselves. No better and no worse. The leadership team at the Minnie Howard School takes this notion seriously. We are the stewards of the promise to the students and we deliver every day.

Margaret Walsh is principal of the Minnie Howard School, 3801 W. Braddock Road, Alexandria, VA 22302. E-mail: [e-mail]