This weekend two other national organizations released their rankings for high schools from across the country.  Each organization uses a different metric to rank schools.  The good news is that no matter which metric is used Corbett Schools seem to catch the attention of folks who are interested in evaluating how high schools are doing.

The Washington Post

The Washington Post produces a yearly valuation of high schools called the “High School Challenge”.  The author of this list, Jay Mathews, previously worked for Newsweek magazine so his Challenge Index has been in production for many years. The Challenge Index focuses on Advanced Placement participation.  Corbett High School first appeared on the list back in 2006 when it was ranked 584^th in the nation.   Over the years Corbett School and Corbett Charter School have climbed in the ranks.  This year Corbett Charter School is ranked 2^nd in the Nation and Corbett School is ranked 4^th!  A copy of the list can be viewed by clicking here.

Newsweek

Last year, after Jay Mathews left Newsweek and took his Challenge Index list with him to the Washington Post, Newsweek created a new evaluative high school index called “America’s Best High Schools.”  Their new index is a much broader look at how a school is performing and includes SAT test scores, graduation rates, number of AP tests offered per students, and other categories. Unfortunately, last year, Corbett School was not included in on their list…probably because we were a K-12 school.   This year things are different.

Newsweek has ranked Corbett School 25^th in the Nation based upon their new criteria.  A copy of the complete list of “America’s Best High Schools” can be found by clicking here.

Newsweek also has begun creating a list of the top 25 “Transformative High Schools” in the nation.  According to Newsweek “It is no secret that schools in poor neighborhoods often struggle.  But some achieve a remarkable amount in relation to the poverty of their communities. Newsweek calls these Transformative Schools…”

Corbett School has been ranked 14^th on Newsweek’s “Transformative High Schools” list a complete copy of the list of the top 25 transformative schools can be found by clicking here: 

Good Work and Thank You

Parents, students, teachers, staff, and community members have reason to be proud.  Not necessarily proud that Corbett schools are featured so prominently in three national publications, but proud of the all the work that goes into preparing students for life after high school.  These accolades are fun but the real joy comes from knowing that the work we are all doing is impacting students positively.  Within each of these metrics I find affirmation about the things we are doing well and at the same time I look for clues as to what we could be doing better.

My heartfelt thanks and congratulations go out to everyone who has worked so hard on behalf of our students to warrant such broad attention at the national level.  For everyone involved I think we should take a minute to enjoy the satisfaction of being commended for having done good work for kids, before we transition right back into looking at ways to make what we are doing even better!

Recently US NEWS and World Reports conducted an independent survey of more than 20,000 high schools across the country to determine their “Best High Schools Rankings”.  Unlike the Washington Post’s AP Rankings that should come out in a few weeks US NEWS looked at numerous factors in determining their list of the best high schools in the United States to include student achievement on state tests, the achievement of traditionally undeserved groups, college readiness, and teacher to pupil ratio.  While the Washington Post targets a more precise measure of schools, US NEWS uses a broader approach in assessing schools.

Corbett School: Makes US NEWS list of Best High Schools

Based upon the US NEWS criteria Corbett School has been identified as a Gold Medal school and ranked #74 in the United States and #2 in Oregon!  The satisfying part about these types of announcements is that the hard work of students, staff, and their families is shared publicly.   I want to extend my thanks to all of the folks that work hard to make Corbett School a wonderful place.

Follow this link to find the US NEWS article about Corbett School:  US NEWS: Best High Schools, Corbett School

(Last year, in response to their employee, the author of their AP Rankings, leaving Newsweek to work for the Washington Post, Newsweek launched a new Best High Schools list. Corbett School was overlooked last year and we believe that it was because we were a K-12 School.  This year I made sure that Newsweek allowed us to participate in their new school valuation.  I do not know when the Newsweek rankings will be published.)

#3 and #1

Corbett Choir: 3rd in State!

Corbett Symphonic Band: State Champions!!

All Hail Mr. Killgore and his high school Choir and Band students!   Dynasty is not a strong enough word to describe what is happening with our music program at Corbett.  Beginning in Kindergarten and progressing through 8th grade Mrs. Swanson builds a love of music in our students that propels them into band and choir at the older grade levels.

Mr. Killgore Hard at Work!

Mr. Killgore continues to work with those students and the combined results of their efforts show year after year.   I believe that this is the third State Championship in band for Mr. Killgore and his students.  He has posted more than a decade of top five finishes.

This may sound like a broken record….but I have to say.  The satisfying part about these types of announcements is that the hard work of students, staff, and their families is shared publicly.   I want to extend my thanks to all of the folks that work hard to make our Corbett music program stellar!

$150,000

As you know the Board and I have been working for almost two years to answer the question “What do we do with Springdale School?”.   With the CAPS (Corbett Arts Program with Spanish) as a vision multiple volunteers and many school staff have been working hard to open the building for five classrooms next year.  The efforts of volunteers Bob Buttke, Charlie Oneal, Eric Stevens, and Eric Kneeland have been invaluable with regard to the technical aspects of the construction process.

Last week because of the work of the grant writing firm PARC, and volunteer help from Rebecca Gandy and Gary Law of the SSCA the Ford Family Foundation voted to award Corbett School District $150,000 to help complete the auditorium in the Springdale School!

CAPS at Springdale School

Interest in the programming offered at Springdale is palpable.  Resident students and transfer students who are in grades K-8 next year can apply to the program by following this link until May 17th.  Corbett Arts Program with Spanish at Springdale School  At last check about 90 resident and transfer students have already applied!  Feel free to contact me or Lori Luna with questions about the programming at CAPS.  rtrani@corbett.k12.or.us   AND  lluna@corbett.k12.or.us

It is invigorating to be working to build something that will provide more choice for resident students, provide a much needed positive source of revenue for our district, reduce class size in grades K-8 and turn a liability into an asset that can be shared with the community for decades to come!

Once again I have to say…..The satisfying part about these types of announcements is that the hard work of staff, and incredible volunteers can be shared publicly.   I want to extend my thanks to all of the folks that have been working hard to turn Springdale School back into a place where the laughter of students will soon fill the halls and community events that have been struggling to find a home can once again take place in a building that holds so much history for our community.

Enjoy the Sun!

Historical Perspective on How Not Being Accredited has Impacted Students

Corbett has not been accredited for more than a decade. During the eight years I have been here I have seen kids move in to our school and move out of our school…there has never been a problem with accreditation.  During the eight years I have been here I have seen kids be accepted to the military, to apprenticeship programs, to community colleges in Oregon and outside of Oregon.  I have seen kids go to school at 4 year universities in the state and out of the state.  Students have attended private universities and public universities.  Students with high SAT scores, low SAT scores, or even no SAT scores have been accepted into institutions of higher learning all over the state, region, and nation.  I have never heard of a student being denied entry into any school, community college, university, or any other type of program because of Corbett lack of accreditation.

During that same time period students have applied for and received hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars of scholarships from all different sorts of agencies, foundations, and educational entities.

History suggests that not being accredited has not been a roadblock for students being able to access opportunities once they leave Corbett School District. Not being accredited has not negatively impacted students.  I hope that this information alone will allay fears that seem to be growing in the absence of this historical perspective.

CHS Graduates Have a History of Accessing Multiple Opportunities After Graduation

Products for Sale

                Every day I receive solicitations from various vendors, commissions, and organizations to purchase their products.  Part of my job is to analyze those products and determine if the product helps meet the needs of our students, and if the benefits of the product can justify the cost of that product.  Sometimes the answer is yes and we purchase the product. Sometimes the answer is no and we do not purchase the product. Sometimes that answer changes as times change.

Several years back I was approached by a company called Pearson Publishing who offered a product called Nova Net designed to help struggling students across a broad range of coursework.  The product featured computer based instruction.  I reviewed the product and determined that the benefits of the product did not justify the expense.

As years went by things changed with regard to the cost of other types of opportunities we had been purchasing for students to access coursework in which they were struggling so I decided to re-investigate Nova Net.  Upon reinvestigation Nova Net fit our needs and the benefits seemed to outweigh the costs so we purchased Nova Net and are currently using it to the meet the needs of some students.

The Northwest Accreditation Commission is a company that sells a product.  More than a decade ago people analyzed the product that the Northwest Accreditation Commission sold and determined that their product did not meet a need that Corbett students had, and/or that the benefits their product  provided could not justify the cost of that product.

The Northwest Accreditation Commission has shared information with me that indicates they have changed their product over the years.  They believe they are offering a product that more closely fits the needs of our students now.

Have Times Changed?

Most certainly times have changed in the past decade which is a major reason I agreed many weeks ago to investigate the product that the Northwest Accreditation Commission is currently selling.  I am taking this investigation seriously because I have made a professional lifetime of working hard to remove barriers for ALL students to access opportunities after they complete high school.  It is safe to say that thousands of dollars of staff time has already been invested in determining if the product that the Northwest Accreditation Commission is now offering meets a need of Corbett students and if the benefits provided by their product can justify the expense of purchasing, implementing, and maintaining the use of their product.

Conclusion

                I am not wed to the past.  I that hope my Nova Net example demonstrates that I am ready and willing to make changes to our programming when it meets the needs of our students. If the product currently being offered by the Northwest Accreditation Commission meets the needs of our students and if the cost of that product is balanced by the benefit it provides you can trust that I will advocate for becoming re-accredited.

In the interim I hope you can also rest assured, bolstered by the knowledge gained through a decade long history of Corbett students accessing multiple opportunities after high school that current students share in the availability of those same opportunities.

I am writing to clarify any confusion around the lottery process for Corbett School and Corbett Charter School.  Corbett Charter School held their lottery for the 2012-2013 school year.  If you were admitted to Corbett Charter School or are on the wait list for Corbett Charter School you have been notified.  The lottery process for Corbett School is a separate process and you must apply to the Corbett School lottery process to be entered into that lottery process for Corbett School in 2012-2013.

Transfer Application Opens March 1st:

The Corbett School District is opening inter-district transfers March 1st for the 2012-13 school year.  The link to the application can be found at the top of the district home page or by clicking here Inter-District Transfer Application.  The application is open to all students including students currently attending Corbett School District on an inter-district transfer, students attending Corbett School District by some other means, as well as students from other districts who are not currently attending Corbett School District. 

Corbett Opens Transfers for 2012-13

District Standards for Admitting Non-Resident Students to Corbett School District Via HB 3681

Corbett School District will be accepting out of district transfers students commensurate with HB 3681. Corbett School District will not deny consent for a student to enter the district via HB 3681 or give priority for admission based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin, disability, terms of an individualized education program, income level, proficiency in the English language or athletic ability. Applicants may apply starting March 1st on the district web site. Applications will be accepted until April 1^st at 12:01 AM. A lottery, should it be needed, will take place after the close of the application process. The district will create an ordered list of applicant names based on the fair and equitable lottery process. Applicants who are selected to attend Corbett School District via the lottery process will have 5 days from the date of notification to confirm their intention to attend Corbett School District during the 2012-2013 school year. If confirmation is not received within those 5 days their space will be forfeit and the next person on the list will be notified that they have been admitted to the Corbett School District.

Corbett will be admitting students for the 2012-2013 school year based on one of these two scenarios.

Scenario 1:

Corbett School District is working to open The Springdale School Campus. The Springdale School Facility will be a component of The Corbett School. Corbett School District will be accepting the following number of students in the following grades provided that the district is able to move forward with construction of the Springdale School Facility. Students who are admitted under scenario #1 could be placed in a classroom on the main campus OR at the Springdale campus. Classroom placements are typically made during the summer.

Grade            Students Accepted if Springdale School is Completed

K                                                            14

1st                                                         24

2nd                                                      24

3rd                                                       24

4th                                                       22

5th                                                       20

6th                                                       22

7th                                                       14

8th                                                       8

9th                                                       2

10th                                                    9

11th                                                    7

12th                                                  10

Current Inter-district Transfer Students Should Apply

Scenario #2

If Corbett School District is unable to open the Springdale School Facility it will be accepting the following number of students in the following grades. All students who are admitted under scenario #2 will be placed in a classroom on the main campus. Classroom placements are typically made during the summer.

K                                                         2

1st                                                      2

2nd                                                    2

3rd                                                    5

4th                                                    3

5th                                                    2

6th                                                   11

7th                                                   3

8th                                                   2

9th                                                   2

10th                                                9

11th                                                7

12th                                               10

If more students apply for admission in any grade level than there is space, the district will hold a fair and equitable lottery for each grade level; lotteries will start with Kindergarten and progress up through the grade levels. Within each grade level, lottery priority will be given according to the following criteria and in this order:

• Resident district students always have priority in any lottery process.
• Students on inter-district transfers (students identified as current transfer students) attending a district school.
• Other non-residents students currently attending a district school via some other means such as through a charter school.
• All other students.

Within each of the four categories listed above students with siblings already admitted to the district will be given priority over other students in the same category who do not have a sibling admitted into the district. The following examples illustrate this process:

Application Closes April 1st

Example 1: Corbett school district has space for 10 students in a first grade program. Three resident district students, two current inter-district transfer students, four students who currently attend school at a charter school in the district, and 15 out of district students apply. In this scenario the 3 resident district students, two inter-district transfer students and four current charter school students are automatically admitted to the first grade program. The remaining 15 out of district applicants will compete, via a lottery, for the remaining spot

Of the 15 out of district applicants three have siblings already admitted to the district. Only, these three students will have their names entered into the lottery. One student’s name will be drawn and they will be awarded the spot.

Example 2: Corbett School District announces it has space for one 5th grade student in a program. One district resident student applies, one inter-district transfer student applies, and one current charter student applies. The inter-district transfer student has a sibling in 3rd grade who has been admitted to the district and believes they should have priority over the in district resident student due to the sibling rule. What is the answer? No! A resident district student always has priority in any lottery over any out of district student.

I have written about this topic at length on two other occasions.  Prior to providing the details, I will summarize that in short, our district is as healthy as it has ever been with regard to in-district student retention and has maintained this health for more than a decade!

Current Year Growth Since the Start of School
Holly Dearixon prepares our ADM report to submit to the state. The report keeps track of how many students we have on average over each time period for which she reports (Kindergartener’s count for one half of one student). So far this year, we have tracked student headcount for two time periods. Listed here are district student population numbers for each school in the district, for the two time periods recorded so far this year.

Corbett School 

• 1st period    629.25 students
• 2nd period  630.48 students

Corbett Charter School

• 1st period 436.85 students
• 2nd  period  438.76 students

Analysis: Both Schools have grown slightly since the start of the year.  Typically you see numbers drop as the school year goes on.

Spring will be springing soon!

Transfer Out Requests at All Time Low

Each year students request transfers out and transfers in.  CSD has a long standing policy of allowing students to transfer out of our district who want to go elsewhere for their education.  When I first started working here our transfer out rate was 5%.   I understand that before I arrived, the transfer out rate was close to 15%.   From reading the previous two articles I wrote you can see that our transfer out rate has dropped considerably, even since I began working in Corbett. In fact, it has dropped further since I wrote the second article in August of 2011. Our current list of students who have transferred out has 10 students –or about 1.5% of our resident population.

So, why have 10 students transferred out of our district to other districts?  Each student and family has their own unique reasons for requesting a transfer. Listed here is a brief summary why each of these 10 students/families have requested to leave CSD:

1. Student has never attended Corbett has always attended the other district and wanted to continue.
2. Family moved this year to Corbett. Two younger siblings doing well in Corbett but wanted to finish her/his senior year at previous school.
3. Student has never attended Corbett has always attended the other district and wanted to continue.
4. Student and their previous siblings have never attended Corbett.  They have an affiliation through a family member with another district.
5. Wanted an extra curricular program offered at another high school.  Sibling still attends Corbett High School.
6. Was not satisfied with the educational experience at Corbett.
7. Young student whose bus ride was almost an hour.  Wanted to attend Cascade Locks as ride to school was only a few minutes.
8. Family moved into area but has never attended Corbett.
9. Student has never attended Corbett has always attended the other district and wanted to continue.
10. Student’s family going through a difficult stretch.  Moved here mid year this year.  Missed the school she/he has always been in, was not happy, requested transfer back to old school.  Younger siblings still going to Corbett and doing well.

Of the 10 who are on the out of district transfer list, only 4 ever attended Corbett School.  Of those 4 only 1 expressed dissatisfaction with the school.  Also of the 4 who attended Corbett (even if only for a short time), 2 still have siblings at school and their family is happy with that placement for those students.

One other student’s family requested a transfer out.  The transfer was granted  but they were not admitted to the other district.  The family wanted a larger school environment with letter grades.  The student did not want to leave and was very relieved when the other district denied their parents’ request.

Analysis:  Transfer out rate is at an all time low.   The vast majority of the students who do request a transfer out do so for reasons that have very little to do with the experience here at the school and more to do with their own personal circumstance.

Home of the East Wind

Transfer In Requests

We have 10 students transferring out but we have 20 approved transfer-ins. We also have thirteen other transfer-ins that were denied.

Analysis: Currently, for every dollar of funding we allow to transfer out, 2 dollars transfer in and an additional 1.30 worth of funding wants to transfer in.

Home School

First, the accuracy of our list of home schooled students living in the district boundary is only as accurate as families elect to make the list with the MESD.  The list has 28 confirmed students who are residents of Corbett; there are three other students who no longer reside in Corbett but they have failed to re-enroll in another district so they remain on our list until they show up again in some other district or ESD attendance area; finally, there is one student on the list who is enrolled in a GED program at Mt. Hood Community College and is no longer being home schooled but his parents have not removed him from the list.

Nineteen of the 28 students are in grades 2-8.  Of those 19 only 2 have ever been in Corbett School.  Of the nine home schooled students who are registered as high school students, four of them take courses here at the high school part time.

The home school list is shorter than I have ever seen it.  I recall reviewing the list 2 years ago and there were 36 home schooled students.

Analysis:  The vast majority of the students in home school have never attended Corbett.  As home school students get older they tend to start sporadically taking courses at Corbett.

Charter Schools

Once again our list of which students elect to go to each charter school outside the district is only as accurate as the parents and the participating charter schools make them.   One check on that list is that we get state funding for students who attend charter schools in other districts.  I believe we have students in three charter schools other than Corbett Charter School.

• Knova Charter School has 2 Corbett students.
• There are two online charter schools that recently reported having 5 Corbett students enrolled between them.  Of the five students enrolled three are from one family that has never attended Corbett.  One student used to attend Corbett and I do not recognize the last student’s name.

Analysis:  The district does not have a significant population of students transferring out of district to other charter schools.

Exceptional School

Private Schools: We have no data from private schools.

Final Analysis:

Though we strive to provide the absolute best possible educational experience for every student, we are not a perfect school district; we are not perfect for every student or every family.  While we do recognize that we cannot be everything to all our families, we always listen to the reasons why people leave or choose to never attend one of our schools.  We take that information seriously and we make adjustments to our programming when it is appropriate.  Over time, these adjustments have directly reduced our transfer out rate.

These efforts to adjust our programming are continuing to pay dividends.  Our transfer out rates are lower than ever.

Early this morning another important milestone was reached with regard to the Springdale School.  Corbett School District along with five other Oregon School districts initiated a QSCB sale with the help of Seattle Northwest Securities.  After just a few short hours of trading all of the bonds for all of the school districts were sold at a price that will make all of the QSCB dollars interest free.  This is what all 6 districts had hoped for but in a volatile market anything is possible on the date of sale. Luckily, all 6 districts got exactly what they hoped for, 0% interest.

How Much Interest Does this Save Corbett School District

Over the 19 year repayment cycle of the $1 million dollars a total of about $1.85 million dollars will be paid to the purchasers of the bonds.  However, of that $1.85 million Corbett School District will pay back $1 million dollars and the federal government will cover the other .85 million.  In other words had the District borrowed the same amount of money at the same interest rate over the same time period it would have cost about $850,000 dollars more in interest.

Rommel Architectural Firm Continues to Work on the Project

The architects continue their work on the project.  Recent highlights include establishing a date of March 9th to present our conditional use proposal to the county, as well as continued work on establishing other time-lines associated with the project.

PARC and the SSCA Continue with Grant Writing Activities

With the continued help of PARC and the volunteer support of the SSCA multiple grants have been submitted to a number of funding organizations.  We are casting a wide net because obviously you are not going to get every organization on board to fund the project.  This project is a clearer fit for some organizations than others.  We are hearing back from some of the organizations.  One indicated that we are not a fit for them, one indicated that they may be interested as we draw nearer to the project close, another has expressed interest in learning more, and the Jubitz Foundation has scheduled a site visit with me because they are interested in the project.

At the December Board Meeting the District hired the Rommel Architectural firm to begin working on the Springdale project.  The District is still negotiating the final scope of the agreement with Rommell however the final number is expected to come in withing budget.

Springdale School

Rommell began working immediately on the project.  Rommell hired Peter Fry, the same land use planner the District has used throughout our investigation of Springdale, to continue working on the project. The Rommel firm, under the guidance of Peter Fry, met with representative from Multnomah County about the project the week before Christmas.  Based upon feedback from the County, Rommell will be consulting with a traffic engineer regarding the project.  Initial meetings with the traffic engineer have been very positive and it appears that parking and traffic flow concerns are manageable.  More traffic analysis will be conducted in the next week.  Currently, Peter Fry and Rommell are working toward submitting a land use package to the county by mid January.

The County’s land use process will be critical to determining if Springdale can be available for use by the District next school year (the most critical factor in determining if it can be used next year is the final cost estimates generated by the work of the architectural firm). In late spring the District will need to determine if we will try to open the school for use next year.  If we are able to open the school next year it is likely that the initial opening will only be phase one (5 classrooms) or phase 1 and phase 2 (6 classrooms and the gym area).

Regardless of when or how much of the school is opened, we are  moving forward with the plan for Springdale to serve as the home for the Corbett Arts Program (CAP). CAP will be an extension of Corbett School and not a charter school.  In October I published a description of the vision for CAP. The goal of CAP is to provide an arts experience for Corbett students in grades K-8 with additional course work in the arts eventually being offered to older students as well.  Ultimately we are aiming for CAP to be a revenue generator for the district.

As the architect continues to work and as the land use process continues we will have a clearer understanding of the future of Springdale School.

What Should We Do With Springdale School?

The District is continuing to move forward with efforts towards answering the question: What do we do with the Springdale School. We are currently investigating and putting resources into remodeling Springdale School for use as K-8 arts program with 9-12 satellite courses in drama and the arts for Corbett students.  A list of steps taken so far include

• Board authorized application for 1.0 million dollar QSCB loan.  The funds will likely be available in late January or early February.
• The District has confirmed both with land-use attorneys as well as the Jubitz Family Foundation that in no way has the Jubitz half an acre reverted back to the Jubitz Family.
• The Board has made it a priority to look for grant funding and has hired PARC a grant writing firm to lead the way in pursuing between approximately $700,00-$900,000 in grant funds.
• The District is days away from releasing an RFP for architectural services and has a plan for moving forward with land-use and planning issues.
• The District has confirmed that QSCB funds can not be used for modular or portable buildings.
• The Board is working on a statement of intention to assure the community that funds associated with the Springdale School will be monitored closely.

How You Can HELP!

You can HELP!

As you know Corbett School District serves as a hub for our community.  Buildings are used by many community groups and partnerships are formed between community groups and the schools.  The Boosters Club, Girl Scouts, PTA, Columbia River Gorge Estuary Project, Corbett Education Foundation, and dozens and dozens of other community groups partner with and/or use school facilities. These types of uses and partnerships are incredible levers to help free grant funding from private contributors.  Seven community groups have written letters of support for the Springdale Project expressing their intent to use the facility once it is completed.  These are powerful messages to share with “funders” and make it more likely that grants will be awarded. To date we have received letters of support from:

• West Columbia Gorge Chamber of Commerce
• The Friends of Vista House
• Crown Point Country Historical Society
• Columbia Garden Club
• Boy Scouts of America Troop 272
• Healing Path Holistic Medicine Clinic
• Columbia Basin Jewelry

You and your community group can help by sending additional letters of support to the district office.  There are many other groups that have used Springdale in the past for both indoor and outdoor activities, letters of support from these groups will bolster our grant applications. If you want to provide letters of support you can use the 7 letters we have received so far as templates. Download the letter templates (PDF)!

Grade School Mural

At any rate I am pleased to make available the Corbett School District Communication Plan for the 2011-12 school year.   You can download a pdf copy of the plan.

Once again I want to thank all of the people who worked so hard to launch our communication program this year!

• 2010-11 District Report Card
• 2010-2011 District AYP
• 2010-2011 Corbett School AYP
• 2010-2011 Corbett Charter (CCS) AYP
• Corbett School Report Card 2010-2011
• Corbett Charter (CCS) 2010-2011 Report Card

These reports have been created by the Oregon Department of Education and are being presented here by the Corbett School District in order that interested parties can stay informed about the District.

Corbett Makes AYP