University Park Trip for Early College Planning Teams

Details, details, details

When:             Arrive on Sunday, November 14 for 7:30 PM dinner with Donna Rodrigues

Depart on Tuesday, November 16 in the late afternoon

Where:            Beechwood Hotel in Worcester, MA                                                   http://www.beechwoodhotel.com

Brief Overview

School planners and members of the planning teams are invited to participate in a 2-3 day residency experience at University Park Campus School (UPCS) to observe first-hand how that school is achieving success with under-prepared students and English Language Learners. The residency will provide the school leaders with opportunity for extended observation of organizational and instructional practices and in-depth consultation with the current principal of University Park and her master faculty.

Transportation

Transportation will be arranged for any planning teams that indicates the need for it.  Please email Chris at chris.rogutsky@mail.cuny.edu  to make the necessary arrangements.

University Park Campus School, Worcester, MA

In 1996, Donna Rodrigues, founding Principal of University Park Campus School — located in the most crime-ridden area of Worcester — was given a rare opportunity: the chance to create a school from scratch. She set out with an ambitious school goal: to prepare each heavily disadvantaged student to attend college.

What resulted is a small neighborhood grade 7-12 school (with 210 students) with small class sizes, a longer school day, a partnership with Clark University, a collegial faculty — and an environment where everyone, from the teachers to the parents to the students, is deeply invested in high student achievement.

The University Park Campus School has:

• Encouraged close student-teacher relationships. Because the school is small and class sizes are small, everyone knows one another. To further strengthen student-teacher relationships, students are looped with the same teacher for a minimum of two years, and teachers eat lunch side by side with students. All of this builds a culture of respect and trust.
• Developed a schedule that encourages learning — and constant use of data. The school day runs from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday — with additional before- and after-school programs keeping the school open from 7:30 to about 6:00. Classes are taught in 90-minute blocks. Wednesday runs from 8:30-2:30 (again with before- and after-school activities keeping school doors open even longer). Specialists come in Wednesday morning, which frees up classroom teachers for common planning time and data analysis. On Wednesday afternoons, students are grouped with teachers to focus on areas of special need. **due to funding issues, some elements of the schedule may have changed.
• Built strong connections to the neighborhood. Enrollment is limited to students in the immediate neighborhood, so all students walk to school and are invested in the community. The school has developed an extremely strong relationship with neighboring Clark University. In fact, the university played a key role in getting the school started, and it continues to help the school — by providing interns to serve as tutors and mentors, professional development to teachers and free classes for the eleventh- and twelfth-graders.
• Met the needs of parents and other neighborhood families. The principal and teachers are constantly talking and listening to parents, and are quick to respond to issues parents raise. When some parents complained about the waiting list for the GED and ESL programs at the downtown community centers, Rodrigues convinced the Greater Worcester Community Foundation to help create new programs right at the school.