North principal departure is bad news, plain and simple
Friday, July 11, 2008Written by: Alan Gottlieb
There simply can’t be any good news in the fact that JoAnn Trujillo-Hays, brought in with great fanfare to redesign Denver’s North High School, is leaving after just one full year on the job.
DPS is doing the usual spinning of this, as it must, but Trujillo-Hays’ departure suggests that forces aligned against real change have again worn down people trying to make something significant happen.
Just last August, the Post and the Rocky wrote stories trumpeting the changes coming to North, including implementation of The College Board’s EXCELerator college prep program. Community groups like Padres Unidos got behind the plan. Top DPS officials told people to keep a close eye on North, that great things would happen there. Real momentum seemed to be building.
But a brewing parent revolt at Trujillo-Hays’ old school, Academia Ana Marie Sandoval, combined with a reported lack of consistent district support and attention to the North endeavor, sent the capable and committed principal packing. She knows she can make a difference returning to Sandoval, so I suppose that’s where she belongs. But it’s a big blow to North, and to the change efforts struggling to gain momentum there.
Across town, at Manual High School, Principal Rob Stein is having at least moderate success because he recognizes that he’s basically on his own, and that he can’t count on the district for significant support. He has found other sources of aid, and the reform there is moving along.
Abraham Lincoln High School Assistant Principal Edwin Salem, an unknown quantity, will be the interim principal at North. I wish him well.
School board member Arturo Jimenez is quoted in today’s Post saying of the North changes: "This is very good for north Denver. (The district) has put leadership in positions that correspond to their greatest strengths."
What a load of hooey.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
I too am very discouraged by this news. It is less concerning that the principals were “matched with their greatest strenghts” and more concerning that 1)The district does not have adequate systems or partnerships in place to recruit, train and develop high quality principals — especially at the secondary level and 2) The district continues to try to turn around chronically low-performing schools - a nearly impossible task.
The students and families at North deserve the best leader possible and the best chance at having a truly world class high school to serve their community.
As for school leadership, I don’t know the interim principal so this is not at all personal towards him, it is just a harsh reality that successfully leading an urban high school (not to mention trying to turn around a low performing one - see comments below) is one of the most difficult jobs around. As a community member and especially if I worked in the district, I would want to ensure that any new leader for North had a strong track record of success in improving student achievement at the high school level. So, instead of rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic, the district should develop a robust recruiting and talent development plan that attracts high quality leaders from across Colorado and nationally. Plus, for North, a regional and national search should immediately commence to find a principal for North who:
-Has DEMONSTRATED capacity to create a school culture focused on high academic achievement for every child
-Is a PROVEN instructional leader
-A strong, organized, and collaborative manager
-A consensus builder
-Is passionately committed to urban children in secondary education
If the interim principal meets these stringent requirements and is given the tools to be successful, that is great, if not, the district is setting this new person up for failure.
In a series of reports the Donnell-Kay issued last fall about new school development (all can be accessed at http://www.dkfoundation.org), we discuss the challenges and lack of results associated with turning around chronically low-performing schools. Instead, we advocate for a robust new school development strategy that involves a continuous cycle of closing ineffective schools and opening promising new schools. It is already interesting to see how the Manual vs. North reforms are playing out. While the district dipped its toes into closing schools last fall and is trying to start a new schools strategy, it should refer to lessons from other cities who have successfully gone down this path and done new schools and closures “right” (you can read more about this in the reports). The district really must embrace this as an ongoing strategy, significantly invest in it (with both time and resources), and wholeheartedly support it to ensure that students do not remain trapped in academically unsuccessful schools.
-Kim Dolan
July 15th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Alan,
I work at North High School. I worked closely with Principal JoAnn Trujillo Hays and will work closely with our new Principal, Ed Salem.
Great things DID happen with the leadership of Principal Trujillo Hays. North High School became an institution where academic excellence became acceptable and even comfortable to our student body. We held our first annual Academic Pep Rally, covered by Nancy Mitchell of the Rocky Mountain News http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/04/north-high-students-rally-behind-brain-power/ The students who have the higher GPA’s were heralded by their peers instead of ridiculed. This event is representative of the paradigm shift underway at North, and one of many that will render North a choice-in school for the DPS system within a handful of years. I can provide you with many other examples of improvement and excellence.
As an employee of the taxpayers of Denver who is lucky to be at North, I rankle at the tone of your blog entry. North has historically been dealt some hard cards, but those days are over. Principal Trujillo Hays did incredible work with North, but as she so eloquently stated in her goodbye email to us, her staff:
“When you were hired as part of the redesign, it was a competitive and comprehensive process. I knew we had only one chance to build a strong team. Criteria included experience, understanding of teaching and learning or expertise in specialized area, and most importantly in my mind, the ability and willingness to collaborate and a passion for educating children as citizens of the world.
I know there are some of you who see me as the vision behind the work at North and while that is true in the sense that as the Principal that was my charge, the reality is that you all are the “keepers of the vision.” No one can take that away. You all have been empowered to work collaboratively, question, and problem solve on how to make our school better.
I have always believed that individuals go into organizations for specific purposes. I went to North to make significant changes. Some of them were welcomed and others were difficult for some to accept. As humans we want our heroes and we also want someone to blame; in the past two years I experienced both. I view the change in leadership at North as a passage. As you all move forward with new policies such as implementation of uniforms and stricter attendance you will be able to leave the past in terms of some disgruntled students and parents behind. There exists a wonderful sense of spirit and energy that I know will translate to high academic achievement for students. This next school year, you will be able to experience the many fruits of last year’s work.”
You cannot rationally compare what Rob Stein at Manual is undertaking as compared to what a North or Abraham Lincoln have undertaken. I do not minimize Principal Stein’s efforts, but he was afforded the luxury of growing a completely new culture around Manual in that he is starting from the ground up – from a small group of freshmen. We at North and to some extent Abraham Lincoln are leveraging redesign with a much heavier weight: an existing population of students and families that feel disenfranchised by the new policies, regardless of how inclusive and Freireian DPS made the process.
I would ask, Alan, that you and others trust in the considerable decision-making capability of Michael Bennet and his staff. I would ask that instead of adding to the compost heap of cynicism and ennui of analysis that has been relegated to North High School that you take a different route and come to meet Ed Salem, our Principal. Come in a month or two and meet and interview our students and faculty and staff. Ask us about the considerable successes and milestones we have experienced in the past two years.
Please, please do not continue to go down the path of “Oh, poor North.” We shook that mantle a long time ago and will not take it back. We are well on our way and we invite you to join us on our path towards excellence for all of our students. Come meet us. Bolster us instead of denigrate us.
And believe it or not, DPS has our back.
-Jennifer Draper Carson
July 16th, 2008 at 10:59 am
Thanks for your thoughts, Jennifer. I certainly don’t intend to “denigrate” anything that has happened at North. However, I stand behind my blog post, and don’t see how JoAnn’s departure in any way moves the ball forward. My precise point was that she is a change agent, and her departure sends the wrong message. I know nothing about Ed Salem and look forward to meeting him. Maybe JoAnn was North’s Moses and had to depart before the school could reach the promised land. May Ed be the person to lead the North community to the land of milk and honey.
Your argument about Manual and North being impossible to compare also helps make my point. The North model (fix the airplane as it’s roaring down the runway) has, to my knowledge, never proven successful. I’m glad to hear about the culture shift underway at North. If it’s sustainable and leads to increased student achievement, huzzah. But that would make North a unique case nationally, or close to it.
Just for a contrast, here is what another knowledgeable northwest Denver insider wrote me last night on the same topic:
“I am shocked by the lack of substantive response (from DPS) for JoAnn’s reassignment. I first heard about the reassignment via a DPS press release. After “19 nights of north”, redesign, teachers quitting or being reassigned, being accepted into the EXCELerator program, extensive community involvement, promises of a k12 campus, and threats of potential closure, they pull her out of north because of potential backlash at Sandoval? Where is the anger from NW Denver? The teachers and the students have every reason to feel abandoned. And the union is right, it’s one more failed attempt at redesign. I completely agree with your assessment that this will never be good for north Denver.”
I’d describe myself as skeptical, not cynical. Skeptics pose tough questions and don’t accept pat answers. Cynics have given up and spew bile and bitterness. I’m too angry about the state of urban education to have given up.
I’m glad, Jennifer, that you feel so passionately about North and are so committed to its success. I hope time proves you right and me wrong.