Learning
A School Without Walls

A tiny Tacoma high school spreads its students all over downtown.

Sixteen-year-old Ian Cairns doesn't have a varsity team to try out for, cafeteria food to complain about, or crowded hallways to negotiate during class changes. A junior at the fledgling School of the Arts (SOTA) in Tacoma, Wash-ington, Ian doesn't even have one building he can call "school." Instead, he and his fellow students may get their exercise in a dance class held in a leased warehouse, grab lunch at a downtown caf? and hop a city bus or walk to a local museum for history class.

"It's refreshing," says Ian. "I'm intermingling with the real world."

The brainchild of visual arts teacher Jonathan Ketler and a handful of colleagues, SOTA opened last fall with 160 10th graders. By the 2003-04 school year, Ketler, who is also the school's community partnership coordinator, expects SOTA to top out at 350 students in grades 10-12.

The intent is to integrate the arts with academics and, in doing so, make students a part of the community. "We built our program based on what our community had as its resources," says Ketler. Students use museums, a performing arts center, the local campus of the University of Washington, and warehouses as classrooms. Local architects have even involved them in planning a new motorcycle museum.

"These are facilities the community has invested in," says Ketler, who worked as a potter and in the home-building business before becoming an educator eight years ago. "Most of them are under-utilized during the day."

Before taking the proposal to administrators at the Tacoma Public Schools, Ketler garnered support for SOTA from the city's cultural community. The grassroots collaboration won over the school district.

"The community wants to be part of the education process, but often feels it can't," he says. "Students are trapped by the school walls and can't get to the opportunities. The best you can do is have people from community institutions come in to talk for an hour. Instead, we wanted our kids to go out."

A start-up summer effort soon blossomed into SOTA when the Gates Foundation jumped on the idea and promised $450,000 over three years. SOTA gets the standard per pupil budget allocation from the district. Community partners help raise money for extras such as artists-in-residence. The Tacoma Education Association supports the project, which features teachers working with arts professionals in some classes, as well as a longer school day balanced by a shortened year.

English teacher Steve Cairns (also Ian's dad) says SOTA's first year was the hardest of his 24 years in education. There's no principal-the faculty runs the school. "Some-times we were dashing from one emergency to the next," he says. This fall, a dean of students will tackle some of the daily travails.

Despite its name, SOTA doesn't only attract just fine arts superstars. "These are kids who find all of life interesting," says Cairns. Some simply enjoy SOTA's approach of integrating the arts into core subjects. The 220 students who applied for 120 spots in this fall's 10th grade didn't audition or submit transcripts. Port-folios and interviews were key. "We're looking at motivation and desire to participate in the community," says Ketler.

About a quarter of the student body is non-white, he adds. Though "a fair reflection" of the community, Ketler is striving for greater ethnic and economic diversity. "The more diverse, the better the school." Attracting boys is difficult, says Ian, attributing that to the lack of team sports.

During its first year, SOTA averaged 98 percent attendance for students and 99.5 for staff. "We know everyone," says Ketler, "If you're not there one day you're missed." Students start their days in various locations but come together in groups of about 10 for a daily half hour to meet with an adult mentor. The whole school meets weekly.

Discipline problems are rare. "We're teenagers and we have the chance to be out on the streets and be mature about it,"says Ian, "Some kids blow it but most don't."

SOTA's focus on the arts doesn't detract from the standard academics, Ketler notes. The budding musicians may be staging impromptu concerts on city streets, but they're also taking math and science on a college campus.

The faculty is working toward "competency-based education," where students move forward based on skill, not just the amount of time logged in a classroom. "We'll integrate concepts so kids learn how skills transfer from one discipline to another, how artistic inquiry is the same as scientific inquiry," says Ketler. Cairns and his wife, Sunny, a history teacher, are weaving their subjects into a humanities block this year.

SOTA's uniqueness made school district officials "very nervous" during the first year, Cairns adds. "Parents were our best allies-even when our warehouse looked like a bombed-out air raid shelter. We were apologetic, but they said, 'You're giving our kids their best shot. They're loving it here.'"

Parents also log lots of volunteer hours. With students coming from Ta-coma and several surrounding districts, many drive their children to school.

"People are starting to shop at stores, coming downtown on weekends to see exhibits their kids have talked about" says Ketler. "We're bringing a whole region downtown."

For more:
call SOTA at 253/377-4010 or visit www.tacoma.k12.wa.us/.

[Dilemma]

What do you do when a student threatens you?

A couple of years ago, I received a call from a neighbor who had heard a group of my students in the street outside my house arguing. One girl with a history of behavioral problems had threatened to damage my property because of some imagined slight.

I had not had her in any class, so it was all in her imagination. I called the police, who recognized the name immediately and advised me to take out a "No Trespass" order against her. I did, but reluctantly, because I was going to have her in my reading class. I told my principal and school psychologist.

The girl's mother came in to talk, and I as-sured her I had no grudges against her daughter. The mother promised me the situation would go no further. It didn't, and I was one of the few teachers who formed a positive relationship with the student that year.

Sharon Anderson
Middle school special needs teacher
Bridgewater, Massachusetts

Student aggression can usually be prevented. Interventions should be put in place before a crisis develops!

1. Make the classroom friendly and non-threatening-for some kids, school is the most secure place they know.
2. Know your students. Be aware of changes in normal behavior. Talk to them every day and get to know what's going on in their lives.
3. Speak in a quiet voice with respect. You get what you give.
4. Confrontation breeds confrontation-never lose control! If necessary, ask for help and leave the situation until you regain composure.
5. If your personal safety is in danger, get immediate assistance. Often a third person can defuse the situation.

Betsy Middleton
High school behavior analyst
Kissimmee, Florida

Once, when I was teaching at another school and was in the playground, an older student threatened me and my job and accused me of something untrue. She was using abusive language and was drawing a supportive crowd of her peers.

I sent one of my students to get paper and pencil and calmly wrote down every word that came from her angry mouth. This infuriated her even more, but kept me busy writing and not responding in anger. In the follow-up parent conference, those words on paper convinced the parent her child was in the wrong. Incidents like these can result in a teacher losing her credibility and job unless they are treated carefully.

Jan Formisano
Second-grade teacher
Mercer Island, Washington

I had a sixth-grade student go ballistic. He threw chairs and picked one up to throw at me. I maintained eye contact. I didn't say, "Put it down" or "Don't throw it." I said, "Think carefully, I understand that you are angry and hurt." I kept talking calmly until he put it down. I have been hurt three times in classrooms. You learn to speak quietly and calmly.

Kathleen Daugherty
Middle school special education teacher
Las Vegas, Nevada

I have a third-grade student with a lot of problems. She is taller than I am and very streetwise. Whenever she loses it, she ends up threatening me. I look her right in the eye, call her by name, and say, "What can I do to help? I am on your side." This calms her down. I tell her I love and respect her, and I expect her to treat me with the same respect. I remind her I would never threaten or hurt her, and I don't want her to treat me that way.

I have been lucky so far. In this particular case, she simply needs reassurance and love.

Mandy DeBrabander
Third-grade teacher
Lansing, Michigan

Got an Answer?

How do you keep lesson plans from getting stale?

E-mail your answer to dilemma2@list.nea.org. Or send by regular mail, or fax to 202/822-7206. Include name, city, state, and job title. If published, you will receive an NEA Today mug!

How I Did It

Gail Katz
ESL teacher
Oak Park, Michigan

Norup Middle School near Detroit is a diverse school with students whose families came from many parts of the world. I teach English to some of our recent immigrants. Several teachers designed a two-week, school-wide project to show that, although we are different, we are all Americans.

In Part I, students researched their own ethnic heritage by talking with parents and other relatives. Those who could not trace their roots back to other countries reported on the earliest ancestors they found. Students drew symbols representing their heritages, and we transferred them to red or white tiles in science class. Adding blue tiles with white stars, we built a giant American flag.

In Part II, students researched other countries from which people here came. Then each student created an immigrant identity for an Ellis Island simulation. Dressed as the Statue of Liberty, I greeted them. They had to submit to health inspections and interrogations. Then we feasted on donated ethnic foods, followed by patriotic music from our orchestra, choir, and band. Finally, we revealed our huge American Diversity Flag, a permanent display for our school.

For more:
E-mail GKatz@berkley.k12.mi.us.