Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Ken Hinton spoke to the West Bluff Council this past Thursday night to discuss his plans for a new math, science, and technology academy on the west bluff. Whereas original plans were to build that academy near Main Street in the Renaissance Park district, Hinton stated that the school district simply doesn’t have the money for that much site acquisition, in light of its other recent building projects.
So he’s looking at an existing site. He said he had considered the Loucks School site, but then they had to close that school to help balance the budget. So now his preference is to use a IGCSE chemistry tutor for Cambridge and the Adult Education Center on the corner of Moss and Garfield avenues.
Physically, he envisions keeping the front facade in place, but everything else would be renovated and “look nothing like it does now.” In order to enlarge the school, he sees it expanding northward (the front of the school faces south, more or less), possibly extending to the corner of Garfield and St. James.
Enrollment is expected to be 400-450 students, and school would be in session year-round. He foresees the school serving grades 4-10, an expansion from the original 4-8 grade concept. Similar to Valeska-Hinton Early Learning Center’s schedule, Hinton said that students at all three new schools — Harrison, Glen Oak, and the Math/Science Academy — would attend for 45 days (9 weeks), then get 15 days (3 weeks) off year-round.
The administration and board are also exploring the possibility of the Math/Science Academy being a charter school. No charter organizations have been identified yet; he said the board is in the “information-gathering stage.” One advantage of a charter school is that the district could hire Bradley professors to teach advanced math classes part-time, since they would only be required to have a degree in their field, .e.g, Phd In Computer Science, not a teaching certificate.
Adult Education programs currently in the building (which used to be known as Washington School, not to be confused with Washington Gifted School), would be relocated to the Diagnostic Learning Center near the Administrative Offices on Wisconsin. The Alternative High School program, composed of roughly 100 students, would be moved to an as-yet undetermined location.
The new Math/Science Academy would be a choice school, so any children in the district would be allowed to attend, based on aptitude and availability. Also, unlike Washington Gifted School, students will be allowed to transfer in from parochial schools or other schools outside the district.
Hinton would like to see the academy open in the fall of 2010, the same time as Harrison and Glen Oak. That means the board would have to decide on the site this summer, develop plans, and secure bonding through the Public Building Commission by the end of the year.
Miscellaneous information
The evening was chock full of interesting miscellany:
- Hinton stated his plan is to retire (again) June 30, 2010, when his latest contract expires.
- Plans are to rehire Dr. Cindy Fischer on a part-time basis after she retires this year.
- The Board of Education is writing a policy for rehiring retired employees.
- Hinton discussed his vision of Woodruff expanding to 14th grade, in coordination with Illinois Central College, so that students graduating from Woodruff would receive an Associates degree.
- Plans are to remove the bricks from the bricked-up windows of existing school buildings to allow more natural light into classrooms.
- Plans are to renovate Richwoods High School and build additions to Northmoor, Lindbergh, and Kellar.
When I first heard of this “expanding to 14th grade”, I didn’t think Associates Degree. I thought more on the lines, that the student body as a whole is so far behind, they need 2 more years just to get where they need to be for college.
This thought came about some stuff I read a while back about the increasing prevalence of remedial education at the collegiate level. I think it was Houston’s school district that evaluated it’s graduating class to find that some 75+% of the graduating class was ill prepared for college. They would be spending upwards of 2 years in remedial work before they could actually take college level coursework. The standards were especially low to graduate. There was this ‘high achieving’ girl who had graduated near the top of her class, who upon going to college was stunned to find how deeply ill prepared she was. It devastated her confidence.
So Peoria is like Houston…
Wait….Isn’t this the same school district that can’t afford to pay it’s teachers? The same one that claims to be saving money by ending each day by shortening up by 45 minutes? A 14th grade? I’m I living in the same country? The students must not have mastered the curriculum to be prepared for college by grade 12! HMMM? How can it afford the adult program?
Okay- let’s think this through… (Yes, I know this may be too much to ask of some District 150 personnel)
Hinton is planning on retiring just as he manages to thoroughly screw up District 150 with his cockamamie schemes and programs. How perfect – he will be able to do enough damage and then watch as someone else takes the heat for his mess. Brilliant! He will be able to say…
“Alas, If I was in charge this wouldn’t be the case…(long sigh)” – and the board will be able to say the same.
Why wouldn’t Hinton want to stay long enough to watch his pet projects succeed, unless of course he is not confident they will? Who did you vote for in the last school board election?
As Bill Dennis would say “Feh”
I’ve got a problem with having the math and science school be open to people who don’t want to live in the district – this doesn’t apply to parochial students transferring in – they may well live in the district. If they want to open another superduper choice school there should be a requirement for the parents to choose to live in the district.
Kohlrabi — I can see that what I meant to communicate and what I actually said are not quite the same. My apologies; allow me to restate and (hopefully) clarify. Anyone wishing to attend the academy would indeed have to live within the District 150 boundaries. Someone in Dunlap’s school district, for instance, would not be allowed to attend.
What I was trying to explain was that you don’t have to attend a District 150 primary school to be eligible to enter the academy. For example, take a family who sends their child to St. Mark’s for Kindergarten through fourth grade. They can’t transfer their student to D150’s Washington Gifted School for fifth grade; they’re ineligible. But that same family would be able to transfer their child into the math/science academy for fifth grade, according to Hinton. Another example: Someone who lived in Germantown Hills and sent their child to that school district through third grade, then moved to Peoria within D150’s borders could send their child to the math/science academy for fourth grade. They have to live in D150, but they don’t have to have attended D150 primary schools to be eligible to enter the academy.
I hope that makes things a little clearer. Sorry again for any confusion.
Thanks – that would be reasonable. I think I’ve heard Peoria Next types suggest that it would be open to out-of district students.
The school will “look nothing like it does now.” So what will school look like and is there any architectural oversight, as it is on Moss. I am generally supportive of the concept of this school but in light of recent events, I will remain cautiously optimistic.
Funny that the school year is expanded. So the smart kids get more schooling while the rest of the district shrinks theirs? Is Mr. Hinton talking out of both sides of his mouth, promoting shorter classes as better on one hand and promoting year round schooling on the other?
“The same one that claims to be saving money by ending each day by shortening up by 45 minutes? A 14th grade?”
I don’t know anything about this particular plan, but typically the students actually go to the community college, which means costs are low to the high schools, since the teachers and classrooms are already supplied by another institution.
In most programs like this that I’ve seen, it’s been a cooperative effort where the students spend the morning at high school (for example) and then are bussed to the CC for the afternoon where various Gen Ed college classes (that you need credit in for almost any college) have been clustered to be available for the students. Typically, in the programs I’m familiar with, they’re available to high-achieving juniors and seniors as an alternative way to get college credit (especially if the district doesn’t have the resources to offer very many APs), even up to an associate’s degree.
I frequently have a couple high school students in my classes, especially during the summer, and I enjoy them. But they’re typically overachievers, and if they’re knocking off a philo requirement before college rather than, say, math, they’re typically intellectually curious.
“Whereas original plans were to build that academy near Main Street in the Renaissance Park district”
Check out what the Master plan for the Med tec district/ Ren-park. It was proposed to be in the White school building, in the Ren-park/Med tec District.
Anyone else getting on board the “Shut Down District 150” train?
Why is it that in all these plans to improve the education of our children, NEVER is a plan for getting and keeping BETTER teachers discussed?
Never is there a requirement for parents to prepare their children for participation in public schools. (If a child isn’t potty trained he can’t attend school. If a child isn’t able to speak, read and write the rudiments of the language he can’t attend school. If the child can’t obey simple rules of discipline, or obey an adult, they can’t attend school.)
Never is there a accountability program put in place for the administrators and faculty of the schools.
Never is there a discussion of allowing the parents to decide where their children attend school.
End this bureaucratic education farce and institute vouchers!!!!!
George(the original NOT Jacob), Hinton may retire, but we will get to hire him back for even more money when he becomes a consultant!!! Where have you been???
I love the idea of a Math/Science Academy and it would be even better if it did have open enrollment. It would be nice if students in the central part of the state had an opportunity to enroll in an IMSA type program.
The thing about the IMSA is that it is funded through the General Assembly and not through the local school district. Yes it would be nice to see another IMSA down state. To ask District 150 to foot the bill for the rest of the state’s participation in it, is unreasonable. Now… I do thing modeling District 150s math and science academy after the IMSA (minus the boarding part) would be a big plus.
Developing it as a Charter School would open doors to other funding sources. I hope this avenue is pursued; what a wonderfully positive opportunity for Central Illinois.
Rixblix,
I agree that in theory a Math/Science academy would be a terrific, but what leads you to believe District 150 will be able to pull it off? Washington Gifted’s WEAKEST link is the math instruction. Even the brightest students are not prepared to start high school level geometry when they leave eighth grade. District 150 has been aware of this problem for over ten years and yet they choose to ignore it.
It is comical that the administration boasts of Washington’s high test scores, but when 60 of the best test takers are given a test to determine if they are “average”- what do you think will happen? Yes- they will test at the 100th percentile or very close. Remember most of the students at Washington are the best of the best test takers.
How much do you know about the IB program? This is another program that had lots of potential- but the results are not impressive. District 150 would do well to get their current house in order. District 150 needs new leadership.
Students who reside outside the district now can attend District #150 on a tuition basis. It might be worth considering allowing students residing outside of #150 to enroll in the Math/Science Academy and pay tuition. At least the facility would have the potential to generate some revenue.
The notion that Hinton is talking about expanding the school year at the Math/Science Academy is a bit of a chimera. The 45-day on, 15-day off year-round schedule is still a 180-day calendar year – the same as the students who attend from August – June – the attendance days are just arranged differently. To really “expand” the school year, Hinton would have to propose significantly longer school days which, of course, means negotiation with the unions and additional compensation for teachers, aides, etc.
How many times have we heard Hinton use the same old tired phrase, it will “look nothing like it does now”? Let’s see, he said that about Manual, Glen Oak, Harrison, and now the Math/Science Academy! He really could use some new jokes!
The kids that go to Washington Gifted are good test takers? That’s the sum total of their talent? Most kids who qualify for G/T services take standardized tests similar to their peers, but they use the normative scores for several grades ahead of where they are. And trust me, there are lots of G/T kids who suck at Math. Similarly, there are some fabulous math students for whom a G/T program would be inappropriate.
Additionally, I’ve heard some wonderful things about the IB program. As always, it depends on who you speak with.
This discussion further demonstrates the huge misconceptions that exist about the education of exceptional learners.
The reason there are so many outside of the District is because the District stinks and people are fleeing from it… nothing is going to make them come back AND pay extra!!!! “Let me leave Dunlap or Washington or Metamora or even Bartonville… so my kids go to failing, inferior schools… AND PAY FOR THE PRIVILEGE!!!”
Riblix,
First, this information is not to boast- it is to prove a point. Three of my children attended Washington Gifted. The math instruction during the time my children attended was most definitely weak. My daughter scored a perfect 36 on her ACT, attended Northwestern University, and received a degree in Engineering. If you ask her, and most of her Washington classmates, they will tell you- Washington Gifted’s Math instruction was terrible and continued to be terrible long after she graduated from Washington. How do we know? Two of my three boys attended after her. My husband and I personally talked with Washington’s principal and district administration and our concerns were marginalized.
Additionally, we were given the line about some students being “good” in math and some are not. I am sorry, but that attitude provides excuses for bad teachers and cop outs for the administration. All three of my children received straight A’s in math- and yet we knew the instruction was terrible. We complained; we got no where.
Who knows if it is any better today…
Washington’s math program improved 100% this year with the hiring of a new math teacher. Unfortunately, this being his first year in the district, he was pink-slipped–the principal is fit-to-be-tied because they theoretically could replace him with one of the Manual teachers who was “bumped” because of the re-interviewing process (for Manual). My daughter went there the last four years and struggled with math until this year. Beth knows which teachers in the past we’re talking about.
My point wasn’t about Washington and the current math program. It was in response to this:
“…in theory a Math/Science academy would be a terrific, but what leads you to believe District 150 will be able to pull it off? Washington Gifted’s WEAKEST link is the math instruction…”
and
“…It is comical that the administration boasts of Washington’s high test scores, but when 60 of the best test takers are given a test to determine if they are “average”- what do you think will happen? Yes- they will test at the 100th percentile or very close.”
and especially this:
“…Remember most of the students at Washington are the best of the best test takers.”
It’s insulting to students past, present and future to assert that only students who are strong test takers benefit from such a program. As the parent of exceptional learners, I’m sure you struggled through the years with the misconceptions and misrepresentation of exceptional learners.
To think that the idea of a school such as a Math/Science Academy should not be pursued simply because…what? Those kids are good test takers? D150 has messed it up before? What’s the real point here? How about some innovation?
But to dismiss the idea out of hand is short-sighted. I’m sure, Ms. Akeson, that you’re grateful that your children had an opportunity for differentiated instruction. I wish that other kids in the area (including my own) had a chance to avail themselves of similar opportunities, regardless of the district their parents live in.