On the September "Start a new post," SolutionsRUs wrote:
Interesting note: The PPS "flagship school" known as University Prep or Pittsburgh Milliones has open slots in 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th grades.
I have been puzzled from this school's inception that a district that prides itself on using data and best practices would ignore the many experts that say that poor students concentrated in one school often fare less well than poor students in schools with a more diverse socioeconomic population.
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7 comments:
If this is the flagship, wouldn't Michelle Obama be visiting it rather than CAPA?
Here's what the official website says. Given that it is just a 6-10 school at this time and no one has gone on to a "post-secondary opportunity" it seems more aspirational than descriptive. And for some reason enrollment is showing as 204, which can't be correct for 5 grades (see http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/4907208510120570/site/default.asp?
).
Located in Pittsburgh's historic Hill District neighborhood, University Prep offers an outstanding academic magnet program for students enrolled in grades six through twelve. Our hand-selected faculty and diverse learning community together demonstrate that a public secondary school can connect all students to a relevant post-secondary opportunity, regardless of their previous academic record, serving as a model of innovation and excellence in urban education.
U prep is our home school but we never even considered it an option. Too much hype and not enough substance.
"Hand-selected faculty"... are teachers picked by lottery for the other schools?
"Diverse learning community"...weren't magnet schools trying to do that to all the schools?
"Relevant post-secondary opportunity"...if one is put in a "rigorous"-sorry- program his relevant post-secondary opportunity may be college, if not, the relevant post-secondary opportunity may be flipping burgers forever (and ill equiped to read between the lines PPS offical website.)
Would Roosevelt have sent any of his kids there? (or for that matter to any of the other schools he has "fixed")
Regarding diversity, all schools are "diverse" in that they are comprised of individuals and no two individuals are the same. But in the way the term diversity is usually used in reference to schools- ie, students of different races and backgrounds- Milliones seems to be among the least diverse of public schools in Pittsburgh.
If the GOAL is diversity it would be easy to specify that.
I asked throught the parent hotline about enrollment figures at Milliones and received this information from the school's principal:
Grades 9-10 210
Grades 6-8 180
The intention had been 150 per grade in high school (300 for 9-10) and 75 per grade in middle school (210 for 6-8). Last year the school finished with around 130 in grade 9, so it looks like there is some work to be done to build up the school. Particularly since there is a risk of students dropping out as they reach the upper grades.
The Milliones 6-12 website says that the total # of students is 204.
It looks like the website was only including 9 and 10, and then they must have had a few more enroll after that.
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