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Mountain comes to high school |
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Friday, 14 August 2009 |
Gregory family funds year one
of Independent Study Center
By Diane Eagle
Mammoth Times Editor
 mammoh times photo/erick sugimura Rusty Gregory and Dan Dawson have presented a forward-thinking idea to the Mammoth Unified School District to create a high-level school that will attract people to the area. Rusty Gregory and his son, Jackson, participate in the Fourth of July parade, promoting air service to Mammoth.
Local residents Dan Dawson and Rusty Gregory have an idea about how to crash through the perception and create a school that will cause people to move to Mammoth Lakes.
Dawson presented their idea to the Mammoth Unified School District Board and Superintendent Frank Romero at Monday night’s workshop on board priorities.
Essentially, the public-private partnership calls for leveling the playing field in Mammoth by merging charter students into the comprehensive high school and dissolving the Charter School. The Independent Study Center will then enable all students to take online courses to supplement their course load, and will provide two new teachers to support independent instruction, as well as support math and science.
The key to this direction, said school board member Greg Newbry, is that not only does a charter-type structure within the high school lead to a higher level of scholastics, it also means that the students will be able to learn from each other and have the social interaction that is often missing in a separate charter school environment.
To establish the Independent Study Center, Bonnie and Rusty Gregory will write a check for $250,000, the first of what will be an annual donation from Mammoth Mountain Ski Area. The money will be funneled through the NOW Educational Foundation, which was set up by school district superintendent Frank Romero last spring. The foundation is the only way the school can take advantage of the funds; otherwise it would go into the district’s general fund.
The response from both the board and public was unanimous, due in part to the fact that both Dawson and Gregory discussed their theory with each trustee, as well as the parents of existing Charter School students, prior to the meeting.
“This is not a silver bullet, not the answer to everything at Mammoth High School,” Dawson said. “We’ll change and shape and see from a new perspective.”
Creativity is not rampant in schools, Romero said, because they are in lock step with all the restrictions and codes of the California school system.
But, he added, “Here’s an opportunity where we have the foundation to be very, very creative for our children. I want to do this because it’s best for our children and our community.”
The independent study center fits into Romero’s stated goal of making alternate paths available to students with different needs.
He began taking steps toward realizing that goal last semester when a construction class was taught to students interested in learning the basics of building. This semester a Health/Science Academy is being launched for those interested in health or science careers.
A little background
on the proposal
Dawson laid out the issues he and Gregory have identified, saying that they know people are leaving town or sending their children to private schools because of perceived problems at the high school.
“Leaving is the wrong approach,” he said. “Let’s turn this around. Instead of leaving, let’s make education an attraction.”
Newbry echoed this sentiment, allowing that while Mammoth is above average in state scores and quite high for rural areas, “we need schools that are exemplary,” to bring high caliber professionals and their families to the area.
He envisions reversing the trend of limited enrollment that leads to limited faculty, limited class offerings and limited scheduling. Because children have different learning patterns, more choices, not fewer, are needed within the school.
The status quo has led to a general malaise in the high school, with certain of the student body merely going through the motions, according to Dawson, while at the Charter School there has been no directed teaching or adequate support in the areas of math and science
Further, Dawson said, dividing the students into smaller groups (MHS, Charter School, Sierra High School, CAVA, home schooling) fragments “our most important resource – the kids.”
The direction taken with the Independent Study Center brings parents back together and creates a platform from which to grow, within 3-5 years, into a school that brings people to Mammoth.
Put this as your top priority
While a new charter school parent commended the proposal, she thought starting it right away was too soon and would disrupt the children. Stan Eller, whose son Bryce is a charter school student, disagreed. “Delaying anything is wrong. Put this as your top priority.”
Tom Cage echoed Eller’s sentiment. “Kids are very adaptable. I hope the board will encourage this.”
After public and board member comments, the board unanimously agreed to recommend that Dr. Romero begin work on the process of getting the Independent Study Center up and running for the fall semester. He will bring a resolution back to the board on Aug. 24. Board member Gloria Vasquez recommended adding a ninth direction to the eight recommended by Dawson and Gregory; that is, to obtain a letter of intent from Mammoth Mountain Ski Area to continue the donation annually.
Public-private partnerships are not new and are used to alleviate pressures on school districts to enable them to provide vital services. Just about everyone in the room agreed this public-private partnership is a forward step toward enriching the high school education experience in Mammoth.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 21 August 2009 )
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