A Look Inside Standout Schools

Why do some public schools have reputations so stellar that parents join long waiting lists, buy houses only in the nearby neighborhood or drive across town so their children can attend school there?

They're not just the ones with the highest test scores or the newest educational program.

In preparing this report, we found many schools that caught our interest for many reasons - overall student achievement, parent involvement, creative programs and other educational efforts.

For Camelot Elementary in Auburn, it's things like family reading nights, with parents and kids reading together at school - in pajamas. For Inglewood Junior High in Redmond, it's a dedication to including special-education students, and a decision not to offer honors courses.

For Seattle's Maple Elementary, it's a record of getting parents actively involved - even though some 40 percent of students speak English as their second language.

On these pages, we look at a sampling of the schools that stood out: five public elementaries and three middle schools or junior highs that are taking a creative approach to teaching. Large or small, suburban or urban, there's something to be learned from each.

--------------- The early years ---------------

-------------------------- Camelot Elementary, Auburn --------------------------

You can't miss the enormous blue ribbon wrapped around the front of Camelot Elementary School.

It's a proud testament to a rare accomplishment. Last year, this school of immigrant, working- and middle-class families was one of only three public elementary schools in the state to win the coveted Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education for furthering the intellectual, social and moral growth of its students.

Committed parents, a caring staff and a focus on reading and writing helped the Federal Way district school win the education equivalent of Olympic gold.

The 1960s-era school, tucked in the middle of an Auburn neighborhood, is a walking school: No buses serve it, because all students live within a 1-mile radius. The closeness of the neighborhood results in a close-knit community of parents.

The school works hard to make parents feel welcome, said new principal Sharon Stenersen. It seems to work: PTA meetings average about 40 participants, and "parents in this school really feel like this is our school," said PTA president Jami Wilson.

Camelot must make special efforts to reach its non-English-speaking parents - about 60 of the school's 400 children speak Russian or Ukrainian - so the school must bridge a cultural gap to invite parents into the school. It does this by translating into other languages the letters and handouts that are sent home and having translators available during parent-teacher conferences.

Camelot places a special focus on reading and writing skills at the earliest grades, and it's evident even in kindergarten classes. Every room has a reading corner, furnished with comfortable chairs and lined with books. Students' writings are posted everywhere.

The school hosts periodic family-reading nights, when parents and students alike come to school dressed in their pajamas and read together for an hour.

The Department of Education representative who toured Camelot for the Blue Ribbon Award wrote that the teacher-student relationships were familylike, that reading permeated the building and that the mixing of subjects within the curriculum was impressive.

"There are a lot of gifted teachers here who are able to share their expertise," said first-grade teacher Linda McLaughlin. "We have a real vested interest in what happens to kids."

- Katherine Long

--------------------------- Stevens Elementary, Seattle ---------------------------

If you were to create an ideal urban elementary school, it would be a place where the many faces and colors of Seattle's diverse population come together in harmony, play together at recess, work side-by-side in class and excel in schoolwork.

Set on gracious, tree-lined Capitol Hill, 92-year-old Stevens Elementary comes close to the ideal.

It's a school that serves upper-income families as well as the children of recently arrived immigrants. About 20 different languages are spoken in its hallways. "Every school should have such a mix," said first-grade teacher Gay Helt, now in her seventh year at Stevens.

Teachers and parents say Stevens has a strong reputation because it teaches respect for each culture. But other factors are at play: small class sizes, a dedicated staff, thousands of dollars in grants for special projects and an army of volunteers.

By redirecting some of its money to small class size, Stevens has managed to trim the number of students in each class to 23 or fewer. (The exception this year is kindergarten, where a teacher and full-time aide are managing an unexpectedly large enrollment of 28 students in each of two full-day kindergarten classes.) Although funding for smaller class size will end this year, the school is looking for ways to extend smaller classes into the future.

Fourth-grade teacher Spencer Beard, who has 21 students in his class this year, calls smaller class size the single most important factor in Stevens' success.

The Parent-Teacher Association has kicked in money for a wide variety of programs: a singing instructor who comes three times a week, a before- and after-school child-care program and after-school enrichment program.

A parent's grant-writing skills brought in $230,000 this year - including a three-year grant that provides 10 AmeriCorps volunteers to the school as teachers' aides.

Stevens also has a part-time language and culture program to teach children Spanish and expose them to the cultures of other nations.

The school is one of a handful in the city that serve severely behaviorally disabled students, who are mainstreamed into the classroom. The school has a partnership with Seattle Mental Health to help the children work through behavioral problems.

And the school teaches conflict management in every grade, with the oldest students helping work out conflicts among the youngest on the playground.

"I have the overwhelming feeling that this is a kind, caring, loving, child-centered place," said new principal Larry Bell.

"It's exciting to be here," said Beard. "It feels like we are succeeding, and it encourages us to do more."

- Katherine Long

--------------------------------------- Evergreen Elementary, Mountlake Terrace ---------------------------------------

Four years ago, Evergreen Elementary in Mountlake Terrace became one of the few schools in the state to extend school days into the summer months.

Controversial at the time, the unorthodox move appears to be paying off in higher scores in the district's own "levels" test, which measures how much individual students have learned from one year to the next.

Evergreen is one of two schools in the Edmonds School District, and one of a small number of public schools in the Puget Sound area, to follow a modified school calendar. Instead of one long summer break, the school shortened summer vacation and made winter and spring breaks longer. Students are in school for 180 days, just as in other schools, but the time is distributed differently.

The breaks worked well in two respects: Students don't forget as much when summer break is shortened, and the "honeymoon period" - those highly productive first few weeks after a long vacation, when kids are at their best - is longer, said Peggy Gloth, a learning support teacher at Evergreen.

But the modified calendar is more than a gimmick to make students pay attention longer. Evergreen put the breaks to use, offering special enrichment classes as well as basic-skills classes for those who need extra practice with the basics. The classes, called "intersessions," add 30 days to the school calendar.

There is a cost, but it's lower than day care, said principal Lynda Fischer. About 150 of the school's 376 children participated this summer.

Interscessions are part of a "more time and opportunity" philosophy that also extends into the regular school week, Fischer said. Evergreen offers after-school study sessions, phonics awareness with a private tutor and a literature club. The school also offers art and chess classes after school.

This year, Evergreen began a third focus in its efforts to improve school performance: an emphasis on "character development," or teaching students a sense of respect and responsibility for peers and adults.

As an example, all grades now hold class meetings to give kids a voice in problem-solving.

"There's a culture we have built into our school that learning is continuous and life-long," said first-grade teacher Susan Duncan. "We are preparing our children for the 21st century."

- Katherine Long

---------------------------------- Wellington Elementary, Woodinville ----------------------------------

The creative writing process at Woodinville's Wellington Elementary isn't a struggle between the author and his inner demons. It's a town meeting.

Fourth-grade teacher Diane Sage recently coached her class in how to compose a Thanksgiving turkey story. Before pencil touched paper, the students preplanned their plots, characters and even descriptive words.

"What are some other ways to say `a bunch of feathers'?" she asked. A million feathers, a cluster of feathers, clumps of feathers, wads of feathers, tons of feathers, students replied. Sage worked the room like local television personality Ken Schram, gesturing with her eyeglasses, shrugging, pacing.

Such forums are part of the educational trend called "Six-Trait Writing." Students must consciously improve their ideas, words, voice, "conventions" (grammar, spelling, punctuation), organization and sentence flow.

"When you're writing, it's not like training for the Olympics, when there's only one final," Sage advised. "In writing, you can change the story as many times as you like. You have to keep editing. You can write a new draft."

Like some other Eastside schools, Wellington is breaking down the divisions between reading, writing, art and science. Sage's class read a story called "The Kapok Tree," created colorful pro-ecology posters, and surfed the Internet to see what other children think about rain forests.

Even emotions are methodically managed. Ask the kids why they like school, and some mention the Second Step, part of a four-step anger control system described on wall posters. ("Calm down" is the second step: "Take three deep breaths, count backwards slowly, think nice thoughts, talk to myself," the poster suggests.)

"Kids here are really nice to each other, because they're taught to be nice. It also comes naturally," said 10-year-old Alex Kircher.

Acts of kindness extend off campus. Wellington students made 1,000 paper cranes to console Oklahoma City children after domestic terrorist Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building there.

Wellington is known for its Meaningful Jobs program, in which students do half-hour tasks during their post-lunch recess - working as teachers' aides, recycling, cleaning erasers, or managing playground equipment. "They get an ID, like someone who works at Boeing," Principal Lew Dickert said. "They get that badge, which is fun for the little kids, and they take pride in the community spirit component of that."

The 569-student school gets lots of support from parents, some of whom are trained tutors in Six-Trait Writing theory.

"I'm so fortunate to teach here," Sage says. "It involves the community. We have business partners, a management team and a great staff."

- Mike Lindblom

------------------------- Maple Elementary, Seattle -------------------------

Inside a building without walls is a school without borders.

Maple Elementary is a first stop for children whose families have fled war and poverty around the world. Here, on Seattle's Beacon Hill, teachers at the school's bilingual orientation center welcome them, show them a seat and help them, literally, sort out up from down.

Julietta Barrientes teaches fourth- and fifth-graders just arrived from the Philippines, Vietnam, Mexico and Rwanda. One day recently they read and discussed a folktale from Vietnam, with varying degrees of comprehension, then did a worksheet, listing food, toys and celebrations from their birth countries. All the while, Barrientes talked, joked with and engaged her 10 students.

"Is your country hot or cold?" she asked. "Hot!" they yelled happily.

The center, a sort of school within a school, isn't expected to make newcomers fluent in English; that takes four to seven years. Instead, said principal Ellie Wiesenbach, "We're really introducing them to the school culture, how American schools operate."

The school employs educational assistants who speak Tagalog, Spanish and several Chinese languages to allow children to speak their first language to ask questions and get a feel for concepts. Other children, for whom there is no translator, like a Punjabi boy this year, must do the best they can.

And generally, they do very well.

Although 40 percent of students speak English as their second language and more than half qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, Maple students do better than could be predicted on state tests. On a national fourth-grade basic-skills test, 67 percent of students scored above average in math; 41 percent scored above average in reading. And on the new state fourth-grade assessment, 65 percent of students met the reading standard.

Teachers attribute the school's success to a variety of factors. Among them is the building's design, built in the "open concept" style with few walls. That means students must learn to screen out distractions. And bad behavior is liable to be witnessed - and corrected - by many people, not just immediate classmates.

Maple's parents, although few hold college degrees and many don't speak English well, support the school. They have fund-raisers (raising on average enough to give each teacher $200 a year for extras) and dinners, and school staff helps arrange transportation on parent-teacher days.

"Many of our parents may not be used to helping their kids academically, but they want to make their kids into caring, hard-working citizens," said teacher Nancy Burke.

- Nancy Montgomery

---------------- The middle years ----------------

------------------------------ Whitman Middle School, Seattle ------------------------------

When their children reach middle school, even the most dedicated volunteer parents are often discouraged from stepping into the classroom. Middle-school students have six teachers instead of one, and as adolescence dawns, children don't want parents around anymore.

Yet scores of parents volunteer at Whitman Middle School in northwest Seattle's Crown Hill neighborhood. On any given day, a dozen parents are on duty: as tutors, chaperones for field trips or dances or for special projects or fund-raising. On staff appreciation day, they even washed the staff's cars.

Whitman staffers work hard to extend the volunteer welcome mat. And their efforts pay off: Teachers cite parent involvement as one of the most important factors behind Whitman's success.

A number of other factors also contribute to Whitman's good reputation and higher-than-average test scores:

-- A stable school population. Whitman families have settled into the community, and students do not move away often.

-- An experienced staff. Forty-three percent of Whitman teachers are veterans of 20 years or more.

-- An atmosphere of collaboration and competition among teachers. They describe an unwritten code of competition to do more, not less, for the students. But they also swap ideas and help one another find innovative ways to present lessons.

"We communicate a lot and we help each other a lot," said 13-year veteran teacher Jan Toth. "There isn't a night here when there aren't teachers working until 7 p.m."

The numbers add up. Whitman has the lowest absentee rate among city middle schools, an indication that students like to go to school and their parents make sure they get there. Principal Jane Lambert, a newcomer who came here from Mercer Middle School last year, says the school's atmosphere is positive, and its halls are clean, tidy and orderly.

"People are proud of this school, both staff and students, and it makes you want to work harder," Lambert said.

With an enrollment of 1,182 this year, Whitman is the biggest middle school in Seattle - bigger than some area high schools. Even though it's filled to overflowing, with 12 portable classrooms to accommodate classes that don't fit in the sprawling 40-year-old building, there are typically about 130 students on the waiting list.

In a recent survey, parents complained that drug and alcohol use was high among students at Whitman. But they also said their children feel safe there.

Counselor Ken Geddes says the school's disciplinary policy is clearly outlined, and newcomers learn quickly about rules that include no hats and no clothes that can be construed as gang-related.

One of the marks of Whitman's success: Recent grads, students now at nearby Ballard or Ingraham high schools, frequently come back for a visit.

"You know you're a good school when they come back to talk to you, to show you they're making it," said teacher Nikkie Wilson.

- Katherine Long

------------------------------ Inglewood Junior High, Redmond ------------------------------

With 1,022 students, Inglewood is the largest by far of the seven junior highs in the Lake Washington School District. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have a heart.

This school, set out among the pines on the Sammamish Plateau, was founded seven years ago with the idea that all students, no matter their talents or disabilities, are best educated all together. That way, the thinking goes, they can help one another.

A dedication to inclusion of special-education students in all classes and a decision not to offer honors courses has brought focus to the school.

At Inglewood, many of the 10 percent of students classified as special-education, for conditions ranging from attention deficit disorder to cerebral palsy to autism, are paired with a general-education student aide, who offers help and support. There are also daily study halls for special-ed students to get help to succeed in the regular classroom.

Teachers, working with special-education experts, have become adept at modifying curriculums for special-ed students, average students and high-achievers who sign contracts to do "challenge" work.

"A fear was that the kids would take the easy way out and not do the challenge assignments since nobody was making them," said principal Deborah McCarson. "But the culture is, `It's good to be smart. It's good to do the challenge assignment.' "

Inglewood is a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, with a philosophy that students learn better if they have an emotional connection to their teachers.

"One of the things we're really working on is spending more time with the kids," McCarson says. "How do we make sure we know all our kids and know them well?"

- Nancy Montgomery

----------------------------- Chinook Middle School, SeaTac -----------------------------

The kids come and go, with a third of them moving in or away in a single school year. Parent involvement is low. The Highline School District, which is rarely successful in passing construction bond measures, hasn't improved the building much since it was built 40 years ago, let alone funded technology in the classroom.

But students are succeeding at Chinook Middle School in SeaTac.

In the past few years, eighth-grade test scores at the school have risen to rival the state average, no small feat in such a population, which often lacks the stability and encouragement received by children firmly ensconced in the middle class.

Chinook students are the only middle-schoolers in the district who take a state basic skills test twice a year, so teachers and parents can measure whether there's improvement. "I wanted concrete numbers of something that's widely accepted to show what our kids have done," said Roy Adler, Chinook principal.

Last fall's eighth-graders had gained seven points on the eighth-grade reading comprehension test by spring, and nine points in the math computation test. Both are areas of special focus.

"We're real pragmatic here," Adler said. "We do spelling, we do times tables. We insist on good grammar, spelling and punctuation."

But that's just the beginning. For the past three years, Chinook's seventh- and eighth-graders have been divided into four teams, almost little schools within the larger school. In each team, students all have the same teachers, who get together to discuss performance, placement, discipline and whatever else is necessary. The teachers meet every Wednesday morning, from 7:45 to 9:20 a.m. On that day, students don't arrive until 9:40 a.m.

The system works on a variety of levels, Adler said. It enables students and teachers to know one another better, and makes it easier to integrate curriculum. It provides greater consistency, making it less likely that students' problems will go unnoticed. It allows teachers to focus on their area of expertise and has lifted not only student performance, but also teacher performance as well, as the most talented teachers interact with their colleagues.

"It's ongoing staff development that you just don't get in a workshop," Adler said. "The teachers are able to overcome the isolation that can be a part of this profession. And if you're not cutting it, you stick out like a sore thumb."

Adler said all middle-school students need continual reinforcement to keep them focused and moving forward. "We just push and push and push," he said. "You just have to have faith that all your pushing will pay off down the road."

- Nancy Montgomery