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In the last issue of this Guide, Brian Skeele of the 2010 Turnaround Challenge expressed his vision of Alvord Community School becoming a center for lifelong learning and sustainability. At the time, it seemed a distant dream. Because of declining enrollment and continuing financial struggles, Santa Fe Public Schools (SFPS) intended to close Alvord and sell or lease the valuable property adjacent to the Railyard.
Today, however, because of the efforts of Alvord parents, teachers and neighbors; the leadership of SFPS; community groups and activists; and the 2010 crew, Alvord is opening in the fall of 2009 as Santa Fe’s first “magnet” school and its first public school with a theme of environmental science and sustainability.
Why Alvord?
Alvord is an historic, neighborhood school with a 75-year presence in the community. We believe that schools can and should be centers of community, and that losing a school seriously damages a neighborhood’s cohesion and capacity to renew itself. The Alvord community was solidly behind this effort. In our experience, structures imposed from on high rarely work, while self-organizing, “distributed” efforts can truly change the world. This was an opportunity to work in that way. And we wanted to support a “living laboratory” in which to collectively learn how to bring forward a just, sustainable future. If the solutions to the crises we confront are rooted in community and education, what better place can there be to address these than in a community school?
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Why a Magnet School?
We focused on creating a magnet school for several reasons. First, as a magnet, it could draw students from the entire District, rather than just its local “walk zone,” in which fewer and fewer children live due to rising property values and shifting demographics. Second, unlike charter schools, magnets are revenue neutral. They remain under District supervision and part of their state per-student funding is available to support District administration and infrastructure. Third, magnets structure learning around core themes that are inviting to students.
We also wanted to help SFPS address enrollment issues by expanding school choice. It’s no secret that there is tremendous attrition in our student population, especially in middle school. Because schools are funded by the state on a per-student basis, loss of enrollment equates to loss of revenue, which leads to program cuts, which leads to loss of enrollment. It’s a vicious circle, and we think magnets can help break it by attracting and retaining kids and families through great content. (Since the Alvord effort began, two more SFPS schools, Larragoite and Alameda, have embarked on the process to become magnets!)
What Kinds of Programs Will Alvord Offer?
Neuroscience tells us that emotion drives attention and attention drives learning. For students to truly learn, they have to care about what they study. And one thing young people all over the world say they care about is the environment.
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