After conducting an intensive five-year study of American High Schools in the early 1980s, Education professor Ted Sizer and his fellow researchers concluded that if American students were to become engaged, inquisitive, critical thinkers, the basic structure of High School needed to change. We had evolved a system of “shopping mall” high schools, full of scattered and superficial learning, anonymity, and too few daily opportunities for sustained rigorous thinking.
Sizer, then a professor at Brown University, founded the Coalition of Essential Schools (he also founded the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown). The Coalition was a consortium of High Schools committed to doing High School differently. They articulated10 Common Principles that would guide the work of creating school communities that would truly prepare students for any challenge.
In 1997, Nathan Hale High School took a bold step by becoming a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Since then, Nathan Hale has been at the forefront of school reform in the Northwest and in the nation. Nathan Hale regularly hosts visitors from around the United States and beyond. They come to see the unique and successful programs Nathan Hale has created.
The abbreviated Ten Common Principles, developed to guide High School reform, are as follows:
1. The school should focus on helping students learn to use their minds well
2. Less is more, depth over coverage
3. Goals apply to all students
4. Personalization
5. Student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach
6. Demonstration and exhibition of mastery
7. A tone of decency and trust
8. Commitment to the entire school—teachers are generalists first
9. Resources dedicated to teaching and learning
10. Democracy and equity (this principle was added in the mid-nineties)
(For more thorough language, visit http://www.essentialschools.org/pub/ces_docs/about/phil/10cps/10cps.html)
Each month as a school we will focus on a different Coalition Principle. September’s principle, helping students learn to use their minds well, is evident in our schedule, which provides longer blocks of time on Wednesdays and Thursdays for all students, and every day for our 9th graders. We know that students think more deeply and are able to engage in more complex tasks when they can spend more than 50 minutes in a particular academic class. As I visit classrooms this month, I will be looking for how we do and do not create opportunities for students to develop intellectual stamina, make connections, and challenge themselves as writers and problem solvers.
School transformation is a continuous process, and we need your input. Please let me know if you see ways we can improve our work.I am delighted to welcome you, new families, and to welcome you back, returning families, to this great learning community. Above all, we strive to create a personalized learning experience, and a community where each student feels valued and respected.
Welcome to the 2008-2009 school year!
Marni Campbell, Principal
