St. Paul Pioneer Press Fri, Jun. 23, 2006           

Schools picking up where grants left off - They seek ways to sustain improvements

BY DOUG BELDEN
Pioneer Press

As Kay Arndt and her staff used nearly $800,000 in grant money from Bill Gates to gradually reshape Johnson High School into small learning communities over the past six years, the principal knew the day was coming when the money would run out.

"Now that day has come," she said.

Johnson, Highland Park and Harding high schools in St. Paul have received more than $2.5 million since 2000 through a relationship with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that ended this school year.

The money has been used to carve up the high schools into smaller interest areas intended to focus students' post-secondary plans and connect them more closely with peers and staff.

All of the city's seven high schools have restructured in a similar way the past few years, but Johnson, Highland Park and Harding have received the most intensive support for that process because of the Gates money, said Micheal Thompson, director of secondary education in the district's professional development center.

The three schools' principals say the investment has paid off ó their sophomores, for example, have improved as fast or faster than district 10th-graders overall since 2002 on the Basic Skills Test for writing.

"We're very encouraged by what's happened in St. Paul," said Joe Nathan, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for School Change, which administered the grant for the Gates Foundation. The results show urban schools can make progress in academic achievement and graduation rates with all types of students, he said.

Now the challenge is to sustain the improvements without the extra money.

One helpful factor is that, for the most part, the Gates money didn't pay for new staff that would go away when the grant ended.

At Highland, much of the Gates money was invested in training teachers to expose more students to rigorous curriculum through International Baccalaureate and other programs, said Principal Efe Agbamu.

That commitment will remain, as will a focus on connecting individually with students to spur higher achievement. "We use relationships," Agbamu said. "It's become the language" across the building, she said, from teachers to office staff to custodians.

Harding Principal Todd Hochman said the restructuring brought about "a huge cultural transformation" that will remain after the grant expires.

At Johnson, losing the Gates money will mean figuring out how to continue the work without the benefit of as much professional development or material support, Arndt said. "We see this as a very, very long-term project at Johnson High School."

Doug Belden can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 651-228-5136.

grants

Here's the distribution of Gates Foundation money to St. Paul high schools since 2000:

• Harding $999,280
• Johnson $787,809
• Highland Park $754,509

For more information on the program and data on academic results at the three schools, visit www.centerforschoolchange.org.