Case Study: Hiring the staff and recruiting students

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This fourth installment in the on-line case study of Leadership High School will focus on what brings many of the students and teachers to LHS, including the strategies used by the school to recruit, as well as reasons students and staff themselves cite for coming.

: The Students of LHS
: Recruiting Students to the School
: Students' Perspectives
: The Teachers of LHS

: Recruiting Teachers
: Faculty Support
: Teacher's Perspectives
: Principal's Perspective

The Students of LHS

LHS successfully recruited a very diverse student body for its first year of operation. When the doors opened in the Fall of 1997, LHS had enrolled 105 students from 31 separate middle schools and every zip code in the city. LHS even drew almost 6 percent of its students from outside city limits, which historically has been hard for public schools to do in San Francisco. Complementing this geographic diversity was ethnic diversity, with a mix of African American (25%), Latino (26%), Asian (19%) and Caucasian (30%) populations, including a number of recent Eastern European immigrants. Students had also performed at a wide range of achievement levels in their previous schools, some turning down the local academic high school and other private schools to attend LHS. Moreover, because of the district's late approval of the school, all of this diversity was attracted to LHS after the district's open enrollment program had already taken place and many students were already assigned to local schools. LHS attracted slightly more than 30% of its students from private, parochial and schools from outside the district.

During its second year of operation, the school has been able continue its success in continuing to attract and admit a diverse group of students. In 1998/9, with a total of 188 students, the school has again drawn from over 30 zip codes within the city and has over 8% of its students coming from outside the district. Almost one-third of the total population come from the three zip codes which are part of the city's desegregation consent decree. This year 27% came from private or parochial schools. Ethnically, according to the school's data, students this year are still diverse, with just over 30% Latino, 25% White, 21% African American, 20% Asian American, and a few American Indian and other multi-racial students. In both years, the school has admitted slightly more female than male students (54% in year one, 56% in year two).

Recruiting Students to the School

In order to attract a diverse student base for its first year and win the support of parents around the community, LHS representatives not only visited each middle school in the neighborhoods where they hoped to recruit students, they also conducted a pilot program of the school the summer before they submitted the charter proposal (see also installment #2 in this case study). This summer program, involving 24 middle school students through a partnership with another local community service organization, employed many of the instructional program themes of leadership, rigorous academics, and public service upon which they hoped to build the school. The summer pilot program not only succeeded in increasing awareness of the school throughout San Francisco's middle school population, it also helped prospective parents see the school's ideas and instructional philosophy in action.

As the Principal says: "No surprise we ended up with kids from 31 different middle schools. That's no small feat for a school that didn't have its charter until after December and after the district's open enrollment program is over. That year and a half of [making] connections may have taken time away from us planning the details of our administrative system, our attendance system and our discipline system, but in terms of recruiting and gaining a wide variety of kids - ethnically, geographically, socio-economically, and academically - it definitely paid off. Because of that work, we were able to meet our mission [of] representing San Francisco's diversity."

The school administration and staff learned some lessons from their first experience with student recruitment. Given that the "break-the-mold" philosophy of the school was one of its main attractive selling points to prospective parents and students, the school naturally highlighted a number of supplementary services and activities which it hoped to explore as the school grew and expanded. However, some students and parents expressed disappointment when they realized that some of these services would not be available the first year of operation. In the second year, recruitment of students changed slightly to address this issue. The school administration felt it important to be very clear to incoming students about expectations, both on the part of the school and on the part of the students. The school even added terms to the application forms to alert students of these expectations (e.g., students have to study hard, wear uniforms, attend school in a downtown location, etc.). However, the overall goals of recruitment remained similar to the first year and included creating a balanced, diverse student population with regard to ethnicity, geographic representation (especially in those areas concentrated with "underprivileged" students), and academic performance.

Strategies for recruiting students remained consistent as well, with staff making presentations about LHS at public and private schools, as well as numerous community centers and summer programs. This year, the school included more students in these visits. The school conducts informal exit interviews with those students and families that choose to leave the school. The few students who left after the first year reportedly left for several reasons, including that many moved out of state, the country, or the local area. This year, the school expects fewer to leave.

Already, the school is increasingly likely to get a request from a school to present, based on its growing reputation around the city. Word of mouth through the current class of students and their family and community contacts is a key factor in getting the word out about LHS. For this year's class, 350 students completed applications to enroll at LHS, while only about 95 spots were available. Increasing interest in the form of applications is one indication to the school that they are doing something right. For next year's class, the school has already received over 2,000 inquiries and expects over 500 applications for the lottery. As the Principal states, "We also know we are doing well because we now see children of District employees applying to attend LHS."

Students' Perspectives

WestEd interviewed a small sample (43 students - 19 ninth graders and 24 tenth graders) of LHS students to get a sense of how they heard about the school, their reasons for coming and some of the expectations they had in coming. Most students interviewed had heard about LHS through some form of word-of-mouth communication. Over half of the responses included such sources as family members and friends referring them to the school. Slightly less than one-third of the responses included a school or community resource (their middle school counselor, a summer school program, or other community-based programs such as Youth in Action, Summerbridge, and the Boys and Girls Club). The remaining responses, approximately 18%, heard about LHS through a representative of LHS presenting at their middle school. The ninth graders this year were more likely to have heard through family and friends than from any other source.

Just less than half of the students interviewed reported elements of the school's program as specific reasons for deciding to attend LHS, such as the small, community environment of the school, small class sizes, the strong focus on academic preparation, and the extra curricular programs offered. Many (slightly less than one-third) identified features such as the open or new campus or the non-traditional nature of the downtown location (located on a higher education institution), as well as the fact that they felt it would be much less traditional in the sense that the private schools they might have attended were single gender, etc.

Several ninth graders this year were also drawn to the newness of the program because they felt they could have a voice in how the school was shaped (e.g., create their own clubs, etc.). Tenth graders were more likely to identify disinterest in specific features that would be offered by schools they might have gone to, such as traditional atmospheres, single gender, closed campus, etc., than other reasons.

Students identified several elements of the school that were different than what they thought other schools might offer. Almost half pointed to particular elements of the school's educational program and extra-curricular activities, such as good teachers, longer classes, leadership focus, not being stuck in old ways, variety and amount of programs, tutorials, ability to do things yourself, physical education at the YMCA, field trips, etc. Almost one-third mentioned that the school offered small classes, personalized attention, and a community environment. Others identified such things as the open campus during lunch and the location downtown, the increased level of diversity of students, including ethnically and gender, and the fact that the school offered many of the things found in a private school but for free.

The Teachers of LHS

Teachers were attracted to LHS for a variety of reasons, some personal and some having to do with the school's status as a charter school. Popular responses of teachers to the question of what attracted them included the many aspects of it being a new school (e.g., can shape the direction, etc.); the curricular and programmatic freedom they felt they would have given the school's status as a charter; the small size of the school (better connection w/students, camaraderie with staff, more potential for community); and the freedom from district regulations, bureaucracy, politics, and the unions.

Last year, two teachers and one staff member (fundraising director) left the school during mid-year. Reasons for leaving included a feeling that the school was administratively understaffed and that it did not have the infrastructure to support the teaching staff. One of the main issues centered on problems the school had with processing the payroll on time during its first few months of operation. Another had to do with have the lack of a school-wide student discipline policy in place, which was making classroom management difficult. As a result, an Assistant Principal and a dean of students were hired during the year and a discipline policy was also finalized and distributed. The two teachers and the staff member who left were also replaced. By the end of the year, many of the staff and teachers considered the first year a success. The first year startup of challenges and turnover did not hamper recruitment of teachers, as the school continued to grow by adding a new grade of students and additional set of teachers each year.

Recruiting Teachers

The process for hiring staff during the second year was similar to the first year, except that the school's administration focused on refining their message to incoming teachers. The Principal wanted to make expectations for staff clearer this year, especially about how demanding the additional responsibilities at LHS are because he did not want any surprises or disruptions similar to those of the first year. The Principal noted that the school's hiring practices were also different in the sense that they refused to hire novice teachers. They were looking for teachers with at least three years of public school teaching experience (CA teaching credential preferred) or experience in urban environments working with economically and ethnically diverse populations, and with expertise in their subject area. Teachers with the least experience hired this year have been teaching for at least a couple of years or have intensive experience working with diverse youth.

A candidate's application first goes through the Principal, then to the Assistant Principal, then to faculty and students, an observation, and finally the Principal gathers input from staff and makes a final decision. Teachers were involved in the hiring of the new staff, insofar as they participated in interviews and observed prospective teachers conduct a lesson. Last year, as a new school with few staff, selected board members were involved in some of the interviews of initial staff members.

To recruit teachers for this year, the school also went through two recruiting agencies that deal primarily with independent schools nationwide. These agencies organize interview sessions with prospective candidates over a weekend on each coast. The school also advertised with universities, in the teacher education offices, career placement offices, etc. Various local professional organizations which recruit minority applicants were also contacted. Local press, such as the San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Tribune also ran advertisements. Board members also helped find support staff, such as the computer consultant, when they are in the industry to do recruiting and screening.

The school also now has a tutoring and volunteer coordinator; a part-time administrative assistant; full-time secretary; part-time bookkeeper; and they are in the process of hiring a counselor. They also have two AmeriCorps staff who help support service learning (community service connected to the curriculum) in the school.

Faculty Support

This year the school supplemented its teacher orientation with a 3 day orientation with vision and team building on the first day for staff and then focusing on the nuts and bolts the second and third days. The main purposes of this orientation were to 1) help individual faculty members acclimate to school's working culture; 2) bring staff together to bond; and 3) have time to plan together and individually (planned some of the staff development foci). Last year's orientation was much shorter and conducted partly after school began since some of the teachers were hired so close to the beginning of school.

The Assistant Principal is in classrooms frequently, conducting informal observations, giving teachers feedback, etc. In the future, he hopes to follow up these informal observations with a more formal process, including clinical observations with specified criteria and a formal write-up. Together with the Assistant Principal's observations, other data and student feedback, the Principal evaluates staff.

Staff are organized slightly differently this year as well. Last year, teachers had two to three preparation periods per week. However, when they had their free period, no one else was available (because staff was so small). This year, he has tried to organize it so that each subject area teacher has common preparation periods with counterpart (e.g., 2 Spanish teachers have same prep).

Responsibility for designing staff development days has been turned over this year to the teachers, rather than the administration. They have 8 days set aside for staff development and have the first two weeks of orientation as well as some staff meetings that are given to department meetings. There is also funding for individually directed professional development.

Teachers' Perspectives

In the first year, commonly cited responses from staff on the challenges of working in the school had most to do with the amount of time, staff and resources it took to build the school's infrastructure on top of trying to teach, etc,. One teacher referred to this process as "building the plane as it's flying". Also mentioned was the feeling that the expectations set out were too high in the short-term, sometimes resulting in disappointment on the part of staff and students. Some felt that day-to-day administrative matters would have been less difficult if the Principal had had more experience in public schools. Staff felt that the situation was worsened when some of the most experienced staff left during the mid-year.

However, when noting the advantages of working in the school, the staff reported an overwhelmingly positive response to the small size of the school as one of the main advantages to working at LHS. The small size, according to staff, allows teachers to devote personal attention and cultivate special connections to students; develop a closeness and sense of purpose of staff. Also, as a new organization, things are more flexible and individuals felt they could exert more influence in school matters. Staff also mentioned that the inspiration and potential of working with an excited group of staff was a particular advantage, along with the freedom to create their own curricula, policies, practices away from the bureaucracy and big district politics.

Principal's Perspective

Having listened to his staff after the experience of the first year, the Principal learned a great deal about how to work with his staff. In his words, the following are three main lessons he offers to other charter school principals embarking on their first year of operation:

1. Pay attention to the small things - last year, he overlooked things that seemed less important to him, but were extremely important to the staff, e.g., getting paid on time, compared with major facility issues and political challenges having their chairs and desks in place

2. Be a more effective instructional leader - the Principal tries to no longer focus faculty meetings on 'administrivia' and instead send memos with the administrative details, and spend the meeting time hashing out important instructional issues

3. Be more data-driven - the Principal made his first assignment to teachers this year to look at students' test scores and define the prognosis