New academy offers bold approach.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

There are plenty of remnants to be found: The Jefferson Jays mascot on the gymnasium wall, a Magnet Arts placard outside a classroom, the corridors named for local African-American leaders.

But to many students, parents and employees, even those who were here before, opening day at the Arts and Technology Academy truly felt like a new beginning.

"We're all here, we're new students in a new school, we're at Day One," Principal Jeff Johnson declared at an upbeat schoolwide welcome assembly Wednesday morning, the first day of school in Eugene and most other local districts.

The new academy, which replaced both Jefferson Middle School and Magnet Arts Alternative Elementary, is a bold experiment for the Eugene district. It is the first school to serve kindergarten through grade 8, a departure from the traditional elementary/middle school model. Students are split by grade into three small learning communities - K through 3, 4 through 6, and 7 and 8.

It is also the only school to follow a modified calendar, meant to boost retention over the summer break. Students will take longer breaks in winter and spring, making up for it by staying in class through June.

The academy, whose new mascot is a wolf pack, promises a personalized approach to learning and a rigorous curriculum infused with arts and technology. It's one of just a couple of district schools to offer laptop computers at a 2-to-1 ratio and SMART boards - electronic white boards that serve as interactive overhead projectors or chalkboards - in every classroom.

The approach resonated with John Fenn and Lisa Gilman, who brought their 5-year-old daughter, Anika, to her first day of kindergarten Wednesday morning.

"We did the whole kind of visiting-the-schools thing, and we were very impressed with what they were doing here," Gilman said.

The couple, who live in the River Road area, also toured River Road/El Camino del Rio, Corridor and Yujin Gakuen elementary schools, but were ultimately won over by the academy's focus on student initiative, project-oriented learning and integrated curriculum. They also liked Johnson and Assistant Principal Shadiin Garcia, and felt that the school reflected the best research in educational practices.

School officials hope more parents will reach the same conclusion, and that enrollment will continue to grow and stabilize. Declining numbers sank Jefferson and Magnet Arts, prompting Superintendent George Russell in March 2006 to announce plans to close them both. Last year, combined enrollment at the two schools hovered around 300, less than half what it was five years ago. As more parents opted for other schools, Jefferson, especially, saw a spike in its poverty rate.

As of Wednesday, enrollment at the new academy stood at around 315, Johnson said, with waiting lists at some grade levels - including kindergarten, a promising sign.

More than half of the academy's students attended either Jefferson or Magnet Arts last year - including fourth-grader Justice Maris, whose mother, Beatrice, dropped her off Wednesday morning.

"We're all excited - we're nervously excited," Beatrice said. "(Justice) definitely feels like it's a new school."

Not every returning student agreed.

"It feels a lot the same," seventh-grader Brock Fischel said. "I'll still always call it Jefferson."

The building has undergone physical changes, too. There are wireless Internet capability and additional playground equipment, mostly geared to older students. Soon to come are perimeter fencing and a new sound system for the cafeteria.

New artwork replaced many of the hallway murals, although with similar themes of diversity and multiculturalism. While the banner declaring the school a "Racism Free Zone" was notably absent Wednesday, Johnson said it will be back, albeit in a slightly different, spruced-up form.

"We felt like that was something that needed to stay," he said.

Rafael Mosqueda, an art teacher in his 21st year at the building, said it was time for a new look and approach.

"It's closing a chapter," said Mosqueda, who spent part of Wednesday morning helping prepare a team of 20 student "greeters" to personally welcome kindergartners to the assembly. "This whole idea is brand new, we're dealing with one community now. It's cool."

Among the 27 kindergartners was America Bolden, whose father, Bob Bolden, was Jefferson's principal through most of the 1990s and helped cement its reputation as a place that celebrated multiculturalism like no other school. Bolden, now principal at Sheldon High School, was there to drop off America and his seventh-grade son, Robert, who went to Cal Young Middle School last year.

"You can change the name of a school, you can paint somebody's name off a hallway, but what is important to me is making sure that the concepts and the strategies and the philosophy that Jefferson was about will mature and be taken to the next level," said Bolden, who believes the academy's instructional approach will serve students well when they move on to high school and college.

He called the academy "an exciting model" that will, in the spirit of Jefferson, offer a nurturing, inclusive environment where all kids are respected.

"What a wonderful opportunity for my children to be a part of it." he said.