Building Supportive High Schools

	Modeled on Four Successful Horace Mann and Commonwealth Charter Schools in Massachusetts Written by educators: Jacqueline Elfiki, Ferdinand Fuentes, Margaret Maccini, Margaret McDevitt, John Roberts, and Virginia Warn
Look Inside: Table of Contents Chapter 1 Book (74 pp.)

Description of Building Supportive High Schools

Building Supportive High Schools is a how-to book developed by administrators of four high schools serving students who have not succeeded in other settings. The book features step-by-step instructions based on their experienced, accompanied by illustrative stories demonstrating the strategies that have helped these schools succeed.

Supportive High Schools such as the Amesbury Academy for Strategic Learning, Boston Day and Evening Academy, Champion Charter School, and Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School are solving the national dropout crisis, one student at a time. Each of these schools was founded to serve teenagers who had been failed by the system. Each has a feeling markedly different than many other public schools. Students who once felt out of place in their old schools now talk of a feeling of camaraderie and closeness. In these supportive environments, students are not only learning-they are succeeding. The same students who were once dropouts or failing in their schools have now achieved stellar passing rates on statewide exams, often outperforming students at the same schools they left.

What is the secret of this success?
How do you give students who don't fit into the traditional system a place in education? Give them schools that, like them, don't fit into the traditional system. In Amesbury, Boston, Brockton, and Lowell, Massachusetts, educators have worked with district and institutional partners to open new, small, autonomous schools that are designed to support students who might otherwise have dropped out of high school entirely.

Major Topics Covered
Curriculum Development
Staffing and Staff Development
External Relations

Table of Contents for Building Supportive High Schools

Introduction: The Needs of At-Risk Youth
Why schools can make a major difference in the lives of at-risk adolescents

Overview: Building Supportive High Schools for At-Risk Youth
Taking advantage of charter school autonomies to design environments that help students succeed academically and emotionally

Chapter One: Selecting, Supporting, and Sustaining Staff
Three key practices that help school leaders recruit, retain, and nurture a high quality teaching staff.

• Step-by-Step: Hiring Full-Time Staff
• Step-by-Step: Utilizing Part-Time Staff
• Step-by-Step: Training and Supporting Teachers
• Wisdom Box: Collaborating with the District in Hiring
• Story: Hiring with Care

Chapter Two: Establishing and Extending School-Community Relations
How to give your small school access to resources that extend your reach and your ability to serve students.

• Step-by-Step: Organizational Partnerships
• Step-by-Step: A School-Community Foundation
• Wisdom Box: Getting off on the Right Foot
• Story: Mutually Beneficial Incentives: Community Relations in Action

Chapter Three: Building an Engaging, Relevant Curriculum
Three specific curriculum practices that provide an instructional environment where previously disengaged students can excel academically

• Step-by-Step: Competency-Based Grouping
• Step-by-Step: Engaging Lessons
• Step-by-Step: Internships
• Wisdom Box: Collaborating with the District to Support Curriculum
• Story: Internships at Work

PSI Can Help You Implement These Strategies:

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