Big changes in West Sac

The Washington Unified School District has started the new school year with massive change.

The West Sacramento district added seventh-graders to several elementary schools, opened a new elementary campus and provided space at another one for an "Early College" charter school, created by a collaboration with the University of California, Davis, and Sacramento City College.

The sweeping makeover started last week before West Sacramento voters in November will be asked to approve a $59 million bond measure to help complete it.

"I want to make sure everybody is in the right place at the right time and that everybody is feeling good about this," Superintendent Steven Lawrence said as he helped students on their first day last week at the former Evergreen Elementary school campus.

Evergreen will temporarily house the new Early College Preparatory School, which aims to help historically disadvantaged students. The charter will operate independently with its own teachers and staff and be governed by a board composed of members of the Washington school district and officials from UC Davis and Sacramento City College.

The school gives admission priority to students who are English learners, come from low-income families, have attended low-performing schools in the district and have parents who are not college graduates. Early College high school graduates would earn their diploma and as many as 30 college credits, university officials said.

"We want to engage students in schoolwork that can be applied to the real world," said Paul Heckman, professor and associate dean of education and director of the early college initiative at UC Davis. "We want to solve the dropout issues and have more kids go on to postsecondary schools."

The Washington Unified School District, like many districts nationwide, is trying to avoid the consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act. If test scores don't meet standards, the 2001 law requires sanctions such as restructuring staff or ceding control of the district to the state.

Sue Brothers, Washington school district assistant superintendent of educational services, said the district -- under new administration -- has a goal to raise student achievement, reduce a 30 percent dropout rate and address a so-called middle school problem identified in national studies, she said.

"We have kids who aren't learning and those who are falling through the cracks," Brothers said. "The idea is to have smaller groups of kids so if a kid falls into trouble, there is someone there to help them."

Educators are grappling with how to best engage students age 11 to 14, who are vulnerable as they advance from elementary school to high school. The Washington Unified school board in March decided to phase out its only middle school. Taking its place will be the Early College Preparatory School that will serve students in grades six to 12. The charter opened with about 120 sixth- and seventh-graders with a plan to expand by one grade level each year until 2012.

The district also approved switching to a K-8 grade model to allow students to stay with the same teachers and peers longer and to let older students mentor younger ones.

Four elementary schools started the transition last week by adding seventh-graders. To complete the changes, the district is seeking a $59 million bond on the November ballot to pay for facility upgrades, among other things.

During the summer, teachers and staff worked to get things in order. Some packed up their classrooms and moved to different campuses. Curricula and district boundaries were revamped. Fifty teachers, two counselors and two psychologist interns were hired.

"It's been a lot of hard work, but I can say it's all worth it because I can see the benefit for the children," said Eileen Kleiser, principal of Westmore Oaks Elementary, which moved its sixth- and seventh-grade classes to the same campus used by the new charter school. "It's something that the parents have wanted for a long time and the children love it because they're not elbow-to-elbow (in a larger middle school)," Kleiser said.

While many parents support the changes, others said the district acted too fast before securing the bond money.

"I think it's a good idea but they needed to be better prepared," said Vicente Hernandez, a member of Padres Unidos of Holy Cross Church. The group organized this year because residents in the north part of the city said they had been left out of the K-8 decision process. As a result, schools in the north remain K-6 until plans are further developed for the transition.

Hernandez, who is a parent of a sixth-grader and 11th-grader, said some classrooms remain overcrowded and school bus service to the high school was cut to accommodate students at other schools.

In the city's growing Southport area, mostly good things were said about Stonegate Elementary, the $27 million school that opened last week.

"I like everything around here," said seventh-grader Evan Cunningham during a back-to-school event Monday .

A new high school is being built at Jefferson Boulevard and Linden Road in the Southport area. Students at River City High School will move to the new campus in December 2008. River City will be upgraded and will possibly house the new charter school and other programs, district officials said.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Lakiesha McGhee can be reached at (916) 321-1121 or lmcghee@sacbee.com.