But eliminating those academies and returning to a more traditional structure will help students further personalize their education and build relationships with counselors, district leaders said.
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“They are finding that some students are getting lost in the system,” Springfield Teacher Union President Jim Townsend said. “I can’t say it is anyone’s particular fault, everyone is trying to do their best and to do what is right, but sadly it happens.”
That’s because the current system can mean students switch counselors often and don’t build a relationship with that adviser, Springfield Superintendent Bob Hill said.
“One of the things that has been an issue since the inception of the academies is our abilities to counsel and advise students down the correct path for them to be successful,” he said.
The current system also prompts too much overlap by administrators, Hill said.
DETAILS: Springfield schools might eliminate academies at high school
The Springfield City School District Board of Education reviewed the proposed changes Jan. 12. Secondary Education Director Marvin Jones will give the same presentation for the general public at 6 p.m. Feb. 1 at the high school. Anyone is welcomed to attend.
Some community members voiced some concerns about eliminating the academies at the high school. Ross McGregor, a former state representative, said at the presentation to the school board that he wasn’t sure about the changes and urged community input before a final decision. He said he wants to make sure to keep a small-school feel.
“To my recollection and one of the things that made me feel better to merge the schools and to move away from the traditional south and north campus, were these academies,” he said. “So you would have smaller schools in a larger physical presence.”
History of academies
The high school currently has five academies — business and law, digital media and communications, health and human services, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, applied arts and mathematics), and visual and performing arts.
The academy a student chooses dictates many of the classes he or she takes that school year. Students can also take classes in other academies and can change their academy at the start of each school year.
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The academies are designed to offer students career-based learning, the Springfield City School District website says.
Four academies were initially created in 2008 after the North and South high schools merged, former Springfield Superintendent Dave Estrop said.
Estrop became the district’s lead-man the year after the schools merged and said some residents were worried students weren’t well served by the academies even back then. He said there was confusion about what each did and their purpose.
One academy then was global studies and another was problem-based learning. He said the concerns prompted the district to host community meetings to get input from parents and community members.
“So we undertook a study how to improve Springfield High School,” Estrop said. “We spent about a semester looking at what are the problems at Springfield High and we invited the whole community in. We had about 150 to 200 people attend the meeting.”
The district developed more descriptive names for each academy and went from four departments to five.
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“We not only put the five academies in place, we also put in internships, digital learning, online learning,” he said. “The idea was to continually look at those and ask the question how can we improve.”
Hill said when he took over in 2015, a new study on academies had been finished and the results were clear: something needed changed.
“I was brought that information to begin to explore what we could do to make a better environment for the students at the high school,” he said.
The administration worked closely with teachers and students throughout the course of last year to develop a plan that would better serve students, Hill said.
Identifying the problems
One of the goals of the academies was to ensure students wouldn’t get lost in a “mega-school.”
However, the current structure has done just that, Hill said.
“Too many of our kids fall through the cracks because of the inequities that are created across the academies,” Hill said.
More than 500 students are enrolled in two academies — STEAM and health and human services — and only a couple hundred are enrolled in the other three programs.
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Each academy also has its own counselor and principal. So when students switch programs, they switch counselors and principals, one of the main problems Jones identified. Students move across academies often, so they lose mentors who could possibly help them score better on state tests and graduate high school.
That personal connection is important, Hill said.
“It’s huge,” Hill said. “That has been really in my opinion what is holding us back. The ability to advise and counsel and have that one-to-one relationship.”
Parent Teri Bowschie said she believes her student, a senior, has had a good education at Springfield High School and has done well in the STEAM academy. The only issue she said was counseling.
“That’s been one down fall, with him and the counselor,” she said. “I don’t know what the reasoning is, but with the college stuff, there have been a lot of loopholes.”
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A relationship with a school counselor can make a teacher’s job easier, union president Townsend said, because communication is better for everyone involved.
“It is important that a person has the knowledge of the student to know what he or she needs … Relationship building with one counselor — maybe if they are assigned to a specific portion of the alphabet and are with those kids for all four years — is important to students and therefore is important to teachers,” he said.
Jones said the inequities of students in the academies has been troublesome for counselors and students, and it’s important to get that fixed.
A new look
School leaders believe they can resort back to a more traditional high school structure and continue offering rigorous courses and be STEAM-designated.
“What we are doing is changing the administrative structure so you are going to have a principal of Springfield High and three assistants underneath the principal,” Hill said. “You are still going to have the five counselors. We are not 100 percent certain as to what exactly roles and responsibilities will be and that’s sort of what we want to vet with the community.”
Having a lead principal and assistants will cut down on overlapping, Hill said, and allow staff more time to focus on students.
Townsend said his conversation with high school teachers seem to indicate they believe a change is needed.
“They are seeing some inequities in the small school structure,” Townsend said. “There are scheduling problems, there are two that are fairly large and two that are actually small schools. Trying to keep the pathways available so students can still get the rigorous education is important, but so is a connection with students.”
Finding that balance is the task the administration needs to tackle, Townsend said.
By the numbers
Staff per Springfield High School academy in 2016
STEAM: 26
Health and human services: 33
Visual and performing arts: 34
Business and law: 14
Digital media and communications: 13
Source: Springfield City School District
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