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21st Century
Schools
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from The Executive Educator *
May 1994
Excerpts:
More criticism came when the yearly evaluations of the school were released.
The reports were nonjudgmental but reported things that were working well (like
the students' enthusiasm for learning) and things that weren't (like the
staff's apparent confusion over who should be doing what).
Prompted partly by the criticism, partly by the belt-tightening that
occurred everywhere, and partly by a change in players - David Bennett, a
strong supporter of the Saturn School, left the Saint Paul superintendency to
begin work with the private Educational Alternatives Inc. - the Saint Paul School
Board began to modify its commitment to the Saturn School. The school is still
open, but some of the things that made Saturn special are gone. Once open an
extra five weeks each year, the school now follows the regular school year, and
its teachers are paid according to the same scale as the rest of Saint Paul's
teachers.
After a brief growth period, Saturn is back to about the size it was when it
opened. The school could accommondate more students, but school officials
attribute its small size , in part , to the fact that the school has no primary
grades. "It's hard to get kids to change schools in the fourth
grade," says Stephen Schellenberg, supervisor of student data management.
The district is considering adding primary grades in the fall of 1995.
The personalized curriculum has "been balanced with a more traditional
curriculum," says Hopkins, and the Saturn students' test scores are now on
par with those of other Saint Paul students. Some Saturn children now use
textbooks, some sit in a space that resembles a classroom, but some still work
on their own interests at their own pace.
"It's not the same," says Hopkins, who has moved on to the Technology
and Special Services division of the Saint Paul Public Schools, "but
it's still a wonderful place."