Denver plans shared-school campuses

The highest-rated middle school in New York City is a charter school of 280 students that shares the top floor of a historically struggling public school.

The two institutions of learning could not be more different in substance and style. Yet they peacefully coexist as a shining example of New York's shared-campus concept.

"We're trying to do what's best for our kids and not worry about how the school is doing down the street," said Joseph Negron, principal of KIPP Infinity Charter School in the three-story school building on Harlem's west side.

Shared-school campuses are becoming common across the country as urban districts work to provide varied programs in cities where real estate costs have soared.

It's a plan Denver Public Schools hopes to replicate on a small scale next year.

Proponents say shared campuses can increase the number of academic offerings, develop appropriate school sizes and more effectively use building space.

In New York, KIPP Infinity's students wear uniforms, walk in single file and remain in school until 5 p.m. The walls are adorned with murals of classic book covers and inspirational messages.

A doorway serves as the boundary between KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) and the rest of I.S. 195 Roberto Clemente School — a 630-student middle school.

I.S. 195's hallways have barren walls painted uniformly yellow, and its students are gone from the building by 3 p.m. Seven years ago, I.S. 195 was considered among the worst schools in the city, with some of the lowest scores in New York. Because of its poor performance, the school's programs were changed four years ago. This year, it earned a B grade on the city's progress report.

"I don't see (KIPP) as competition," said Rosarie Jean, principal of I.S. 195. "It's children first. We have the same goal to educate children and prepare them for the 21st century. How we go about it is different."

DPS still in planning stage

Despite the success of New York's shared-campus system, Denver's idea to model the plan concerns community members who worry about the effects on existing programs.

Thursday, DPS officials will recommend placing new school programs — including charter schools — in under-enrolled Denver middle and high schools.

"As with anything new, until people actually see it, it's hard to visualize what it will be like," said DPS Superintendent Michael Bennet. "It's going to be incumbent on us to execute well."

In New York, shared-school campuses have become a way of life. Of the city's 1,500 schools, about 600 are shared campuses.

"When I have buildings that are half-empty and an opportunity to place a school in there that may create different opportunities for kids in that community . . . that's what we do," said New York schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

"Sure, you get some noise," he said. "Overwhelmingly, it's working. People made the adjustments, looked for the opportunities. That's what will happen in Denver as well."

Denver school officials have examined New York's and Chicago's shared schools, hosted school administrators from those cities, and hired a former New York charter school principal to help DPS build its program.

And they've paid particular attention to New York's system of co-location, including the city's process of defining a building's footprint, separating schools and getting principals to work together.

"People in the school don't



Natalie Kaiser, 7, left, of the New York Center for Autism Charter School, joins teacher Audra Gibson-Brown's writing class at P.S. 50 in east Harlem. The schools have a collaborative relationship, with students working in one another's classes. (Hyoung Chang | The Denver Post)
own the building," Klein said. "The people who own the building are my 1.1 million children, who are entitled to an equitable crack at a great education."

Graduation rates have improved and dropout rates have declined in New York schools. Critics question whether the moves caused improved achievement, but there is no question students are more engaged.

5 floors, 5 successful schools

A good example of a successful shared campus is at the former Morris High School, which was a large, comprehensive high school in the south Bronx with 2,000 students and a graduation rate of between 25 percent and 35 percent.

Now, the Morris Educational Campus has a school program on each of its five floors: violin and dance; English- language learners; and others that concentrate on math, science and art.

"Has it worked?" said Wade Fuller, principal of the School of Excellence on the fourth floor. "Clearly in this building the answer is this has been a resounding success."

Now, the five schools of about 300 students each graduate between 59 percent and 85 percent of their students in four years. Each school received either an A or B grade on the city's latest progress report card.

On a recent day just before 8 a.m., teenagers flocked into the 111-year-old building, passing through metal detectors and converging into the cafeteria for the only time of day when they commingle with students from other schools.

"It's a good school," said sophomore Rahmel Hunter, 15, who attends Bronx Leadership Academy II High School because of its focus on math. "There's not a lot of jerks or fighting. If there were more kids, there would be more chaos."

The five Morris Campus principals have developed a close bond, meeting on Fridays to hash over issues about space.

"It's like we have an arranged marriage, and we all bought a used house and moved in together," said Elyse Doti, principal of Bronx Leadership Academy II on the second floor.

The most fractious issue is when each school can use the cafeteria for lunch. They rotate the schedule every year so one school doesn't get stuck with the least desirable slots of 10:30 and 12:45.

"It's working," said Charles Osewalt, principal of Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies. "The key is to make sure everyone feels it's fair."

The principals also share successful instructional practices and act as counselors for one another.

"If I'm having a hard day, Elyse will be there for me," said Tanya John, principal of the High School for Violin and Dance. "Before I go to the district, I'll call my other principals."

Critiques and compliments

On a recent weekday, boys and girls basketball tryouts were in the fifth-floor gym, where flags representing each school hung from the rafters. One flag for Morris Campus hung over center court.

"For us it works academically, but not so much athletically," said Julio Lopez, who teaches at the High School for Violin and Dance and is the Morris Bulldogs girls basketball coach. "I don't think they have as much pride as if it were one school."

Owusu Gyarkye, a math teacher at the School for Excellence who is originally from Ghana, taught at the former high school and said he has seen how the new configuration is working.

"Students weren't coming to class, only 40 percent passed the math test," he said. "Now every day you see the students and know where they are. Ninety-five percent passed the math test last year. Nobody likes change. The old system wasn't helping our kids."

Sharing kids' experiences

Across the city in east Harlem, P.S. 50 has been sharing a campus for three years with a small charter school for kids severely affected by autism.

The schools have developed a collaborative relationship, with students working inside each other's classrooms.

Seventh-graders from P.S. 50 take a 10-week peer mentoring course with students at the New York Center for Autism Charter School.

At least two high-functioning charter school students are included in P.S. 50 classes every week.

The result is that typical kids get an understanding of autism, and kids with autism get peer modeling, said P.S. 50 principal Rebekah Marler.

"It's cool learning and being a mentor," said seventh-grader Antonio Peña, 12, who wants to become a neuro surgeon specializing in autism. "My cousin has autism. When she wants to hit something, I'd like to know how to work with that."

Three times a week, 7-year-old Natalie Kaiser and 7-year-old Jake Soper, who both have autism, leave their individualized charter school for 20 minutes of reading in Audra Gibson- Brown's second-grade classroom.

On a recent day, Natalie walked into class and was met with hugs from her classmates.

She sat down on a rug with the rest of the children to listen to Gibson- Brown read. A charter school teacher sat close by, watching Natalie's every move to quickly correct the girl if she began to lose focus.

"Our kids have developed relationships with them," Gibson-Brown said. "It's also good for my kids because they are a little different, and it's good to be exposed to that."

Under Klein, the city has closed or is in the process of phasing out more than 80 schools. Klein said to make a district thrive is to halt failing programs.

"That's a core piece of accountability," Klein said. "Which is more painful, a school with 23 percent graduation rate that is failing the kids or the transformation you have to go through to more than double that rate? It's not even a close question."

In Denver, the district last year set up a performance framework to analyze the yearly progress of schools.

If a school is failing or is perpetually under-enrolled, several steps will be employed to fix it. One of those could be shutting it down, said Superintendent Bennet.

"It becomes one of our tools," he said. "Our preferred path is to improve our schools across the district."

Last week, seven schools throughout Denver that are being eyed for shared campuses held meetings in which parents, teachers and students asked why they would have to share their buildings with other schools.

They worried about whether the new schools would harm or undercut the current program.

New York Chancellor Klein said he's heard the complaints before. The district has faced lawsuits, marches and interventions from politicians.

But those voices typically have quieted after successful programs move in and children improve.

"The way people come on board is they understand what their options are and the framework," Klein said. "They say, 'I can sit here and curse the darkness, or I can light a candle.'

"And people are lighting candles."