{"id":2877,"date":"2013-10-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/blog\/cw_post\/a-visit-to-phoenix-multicultural-academy-detroit\/"},"modified":"2020-02-05T12:51:14","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T17:51:14","slug":"a-visit-to-phoenix-multicultural-academy-detroit","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/a-visit-to-phoenix-multicultural-academy-detroit\/","title":{"rendered":"A Visit to Phoenix Multicultural Academy (Detroit)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"phoenix<\/a>I first met Dr. Cintron as he jetted down the hall, waving his iPad, calling, \u201cI\u2019m on my way to do observations!\u201d He took a circular path to becoming principal at Phoenix, starting first as a teacher at Phoenix, then at DPS to manage Title III, and then as principal by the Education Achievement Authority to re-invent the school as a Student-Centered Learning model.\u00a0 (Please read the post on EAA\u00a0<\/a>to understand the SCL model and how mastery-based learning is embedded in the overall approach.)<\/p>\n

Phoenix is a K-9 school in the middle of the Hispanic community known as Mexicantown in Detroit.\u00a0 Its student body is 70% Latino (of which 70% are English language learners), 10% African-American, and the remaining a mix of white and multi-racial students. Phoenix also has a number of students age 13-17 that are refugees from Guatemala and Hungary that high schools wouldn\u2019t accept because the students\u2019 education has been so interrupted.<\/p>\n

Phoenix got results even in their first year of operation. They were the fifth most improved of all schools, according to Excellent Schools Detroit<\/a>. As a result, enrollment is increasing with 100 additional students this year.<\/p>\n

Responsiveness Leads to Innovation<\/b>: One of the key characteristics of Phoenix is its problem-solving mode of operations that generates innovation along the way.\u00a0 One example is how it morphed into the unusual structure of a K-9 school. Originally it was K-8, and eighth graders, upon graduation, had no choice but to attend a large high school outside of their neighborhood because the local high school had been closed. Knowing that there was going to be a lot of gang conflict, Phoenix added a 9th<\/sup> grade academy to their existing K-8 structure, in which the 9th<\/sup> grade students would spend part of their day at Phoenix, continuing to build up their language skills, and 2\/3 at the \u00a0Central High School.<\/p>\n

Another example of innovation is the Learning Village, where three teachers have integrated their 1st<\/sup> and 2nd<\/sup> grade classes to better manage the environment in order to support the students.\u00a0 The majority of the students did not have any pre-K experience and are ELL.\u00a0 They found that the transition between the stations, from receiving new instruction to practicing or demonstrating, was challenging for many of them.\u00a0 Using the three classrooms along a dedicated hallway, the teachers use one classroom for new instruction, one for tutoring, and the other for two stations, small teacher-led group and technology-based practice. In this way, they can help the students orient themselves and make the transitions more clear. They also have flexibility to group students along levels so that regardless of age or grade, students at or below Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 all have a chance to work together.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mary Esselman, Chief Academic Officer of the EAA, explained that, in the first year of implementation, the focus was on structure, and in the second year, teachers can begin to explore what technology allows you to leverage \u2013 time, talent, resources, and space.<\/p>\n

Student-Centered Starts with Caring<\/b>:\u00a0 Like the other schools I visited, the EAA SCL schools start with caring. It\u2019s in the greetings among staff, and between staff and children. With Dr. Esselman as my guide, we walked the hallways entering every classroom to say hi, observe the classroom, and talk to the children. As Dr. Esselman says, \u201cYou can\u2019t do observations without talking to the students.\u201d Among the many encouraging posters in Phoenix hallways, this one caught my heart: \u201cLove gives you wings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Routines and Rituals<\/b>:\u00a0 It was fascinating to see the same types of rituals in each classroom with a strong dose of creativity and personal flair.\u00a0 It was also amazing how similarly these classrooms looked to the ones I\u2019ve visited in Barack Obama Charter School<\/a> and in Maine.\u00a0 They are all part of creating a transparent classroom where students know exactly what they are working on, what proficiency looks like, and what they need to do next. It\u2019s also the tools for teachers to manage a personalized classroom. What you\u2019ll see are:<\/p>\n