Education Week - June 2, 2016 - Diplomas Count - 26

Nathan W. Armes for Education Week

Northfield freshman
Moises Ramirez
jokes with a classmate
during a French class
group activity.
A new class of 200
students is signed up to
enroll next school year.

NORTHFIELD 9TH GRADE ENROLLMENT
2015-16 school year (October count)
194 students

2016-17 school year (projected)
200 students

Demographics
Black

31% of students
21

Hispanic

31

White

48

31
22

Other

7
9

Free and Reduced-Price Lunch Program
50%
60

26

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Education Week Diplomas Count * June 2, 2016

to do so while also implementing so
many other new features-and while
operating without key figures like a
guidance counselor-may have been
overly ambitious. "Detracking in and
of itself is such a profound reform that
if you try to layer other reforms and
changes on top of it, your school is
going to be overwhelmed," Burris said.
But Tropper pushed back against
this characterization, saying that the
design elements would have supported detracking.
Susana Cordova, the district's acting
superintendent while Superintendent
Tom Boasberg takes an unpaid sabbatical with his family, attributed the
school's challenges to leadership, noting that the district had successfully
opened dozens of other types of schools
in recent years. But, in a district that
prizes autonomy for its school leaders-Denver's school board and superintendent embraced charter schools
and decentralization-some school
staff members accused district leaders
of throwing Northfield under the bus.
"If the district approves innovation status, ... it is contingent upon the
district to provide the structures and
supports for that model," said Scott
Esserman, an advisory-class teachers at the school who filed a grievance
against the new school administration.
To Castagna, the interim principal,
the kitchen-sink nature of the plan
should have raised red flags. "Did
anyone look at that plan?" he said.
The logistics of asking high school
teachers to loop with students,
running a school without an assistant principal, and the budget

questions raised by having advisers
and applying for International Baccalaureate certification seemed like
too much.
But former principal Tropper said he
believed some of the issues were the
result of decisions made at the district
and school level to not follow through
with key pieces of the plan after his
departure: For instance, the initial design had a weeklong period at the end
of the semester when students should
have been able to turn in work.
The school's next principal, Amy
Bringedahl, said that she is committed to the core of the school's plan-
"classrooms balanced by diversity
and achievement level"-but is open
to making changes to other parts.
As the school year draws to a close, a
new class of 200 students is signed up
to start school, Bringedahl has started
hiring, and Northfield is on track to
apply for the IB status that will allow
it to carry out its mission. The school's
community has started the Northfield
High Foundation, dedicated to supporting the school, and construction is
continuing on the new facility.
Despite the turmoil, students spoke
highly of the school's teachers and of
their experience in a genuinely diverse school.
"It gives you a chance to see who
you really fit in with and find your true
self," said Tae, the entrepreneurial
student. And as far as having a school
that's offering IB for everyone, Tae is
optimistic: "I think it can happen."
"You can't go back," said Bringedahl. "But the goal's to restart and
create a great experience for kids." n
Education Week - June 2, 2016 - Diplomas Count

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