LAUSD FINDS THAT SMALLER'S MUCH BETTER GOAL IS TO PERSONALIZE EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS.

Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer

Tired of double-digit dropout rates and graduates who are unprepared for college, Los Angeles Unified leaders are turning to ``small learning communities'' to transform the district's large, impersonal high schools.

The communities, several of which will debut this summer and when the fall semester starts Sept. 9, will build upon traits of successful programs already established at some of the district's most overcrowded campuses, such as the humanities magnet at Cleveland High School and the culinary arts academy at Monroe High School.

``What we're trying to do is to find that hook that will make students come to school every day and feel good about it,'' Monroe Principal Gregory J. Vallone said.

Importing the idea from other urban districts in New York and Chicago, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Roy Romer has made small learning centers one of his top priorities. He's asked each of the district's 50 high schools to consider how they might develop small learning communities on their campuses.

Grouping teachers and students into pods of between 300 and 500 would hopefully personalize high school and reduce a dropout rate that has reached 33 percent.

Currently, students ``feel lost,'' Romer said. ``They don't know anyone. The schools are too large. I want to make the learning experience of every high school student more personal.''

While Romer said he's sure small learning communities are key to changing the culture of high school, he said that converting schools must be a gradual and thoughtful process.

``We're trying to be very deliberate,'' he said. ``We don't want to oversell this or make it the program of the month.''

While new high schools are being designed with flexibility that allows for small learning communities, existing schools that convert will be charged with developing unique programs that work for their campuses and students.

``We're not trying to control what small learning communities look like,'' said Larry Tash, LAUSD director of small school learning communities. ``They're going to look different at all schools. There's no cookie-cutter model.''

Ideally, groups of students and teachers would stay together through all four years of high school - establishing the sort of relationships that experts deem critical to student success.

Board member David Tokofsky said he hoped educators would take Romer's mission to heart and not just give the concept lip service. He said he's worried the phrase has become political.

```Small learning communities' is the new buzz word in public education, and at its core, it has tremendous meaning, but as it's being bantered about in the bureaucracy, it's just a means for administrators and teachers to get promoted through the usual kiss-ass system,'' he said. ``You say 'small learning communities' three times an hour, and you're more likely to get promoted.''

Truly implementing the concept sometimes requires nearly every aspect of modern-day high school to be revamped, Tash said.

``What we're asking schools to do is very messy work because we're asking them to change structures, practices and attitudes,'' he said.

Educators at Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley can attest to the dramatic nature of the change. They launched their ``ninth-grade center,'' the first phase of their small learning community movement, this month.

The campus has restructured nearly every interaction it has with freshmen, who historically struggle socially and academically during their transition to high school.

``We basically overnight turned this school upside down,'' said Edward Trimis, assistant principal of Polytechnic's ninth-grade center.

The campus has created a freshmen-only office and clustered freshmen classrooms so that youngsters don't have to spend so much time wandering around the large 43-acre campus. It has also reserved 37 teachers and five administrators exclusively for ninth-graders. Also being added are leadership and mentoring programs, as well as required freshmen science, geography and college prep classes.

``It's like you're starting from scratch,'' Polytechnic High counselor Larry Fishman said. ``This is the most excited I've been in a long time.''

Polytechnic leaders said they planned to keep students in small learning communities that will be divided by career paths as they become sophomores, juniors and seniors. The hope is to improve graduation rates - as it is, just 700 of 1,100 entering Polytechnic freshmen earn their diplomas in four years.

Mario Aguilar, 13, said he appreciates the effort. So far, he says, high school is a breeze.

``I have no problems right now,'' the Panorama City teen said.

Wesdin Hernandez, 21, said a small learning community changed his life. Just a year after emigrating from Guatemala, Hernandez found his home in the culinary arts academy at Monroe High School.

Within two years, he earned an $80,000 scholarship from the Culinary Institute of America in New York, where he currently is a student.

``This is a great program; it is the best,'' he said of Monroe's culinary arts small learning community.

He said he's thrilled that Monroe is expanding to include 19 career paths, including animation and robotics. All 4,887 students will be asked to select one of the programs.

Jennifer Radcliffe, [phone]

jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com