by By I-chun Che of the Cupertino Courier - January 28, 2004
Cupertino schools are so well known for excellence that people from as far away as India and China actually know them by name. What they may not know is that within this academic mecca there are four alternative schools that offer very different philosophical approaches to education.
There's the traditional teacher-centered classroom at Faria and the unconventional child-centered approach at McAuliffe. At Murdock-Portal, technology permeates the curriculum, and the students at Collins' Mandarin Immersion Program learn their core subjects in both Mandarin and English.
"The [Cupertino Union School] district values choice," says Assistant Superintendent Phyllis Vogel, who supervises all the alternative programs. "Not every program is appropriate to every child and family."
These alternative programs are open to in-district students and students of parents who are employees of the Cupertino Union School District or the Fremont High School District.
The different educational styles also reflect different cultural values.
For example, Faria and Murdock-Portal are extremely popular among Asian families-88 percent of Faria's students are Asian and about 76 percent of Portal's students are Asian, but only 21 percent of McAuliffe's students are Asian.
"I guess Asian parents are more familiar with the more academically oriented approaches like Faria, and for them, McAuliffe is a foreign way to educate children," Vogel says.
But this preponderance of Asian students at Faria and Portal means many of the youngsters don't speak English as their first language. So teachers at these two schools take training to help their students acquire English-language skills.
While parents choose alternative programs according to their educational beliefs, there are those who choose the Mandarin immersion program to keep their Chinese heritage alive. About 75 percent of students in that program are of Chinese descent, but not all of them speak Mandarin at home.
But enrollment in one of these schools also means special challenges.
Parents are required to volunteer, and since the school district doesn't allow special funding for these alternative programs, parents must raise the money to support the educational equipment and styles each program needs.
If the school is not in the youngster's neighborhood, transportation can be a headache.
"If you have a child at a neighborhood school and a child at an alternative school, you will spend a lot of time driving," says Faria Principal Dolly Travers.
Portal Principal Leslie Mains says another challenge for alternative schools is how to build a sense of community, because students come from all over the school district, which encompasses five cities. "The alternative schools don't necessarily have a relationship with the surrounding neighborhood, so we encourage parents to participate in community activities," Mains says.
Another concern is the children's adjustment from the alternative programs to mainstream middle and high schools.
"There are many things parents need to consider," says Assistant Superintendent Vogel. "That's why we require parents who don't have a child in the alternative programs to attend an informational meeting and have a school tour before applying. Alternative programs give parents an option, but they are not for everyone."
Registration week for all four schools starts on Feb. 9.
Faria
A structured program placing emphasis on the development and mystery of the basic skills in a traditional classroom environment.
Faria Elementary School is perhaps the district's most famous school. For the second time in three years, Faria recorded the top score in statewide school rankings-it scored 981 out of a possible 1,000 points on the state's Academic Performance Index.
Every year parents actually camp outside the school overnight to enroll in the program. Some families, including that of City Councilwoman Kris Wang, move to the school district just to get into the program. This year, Principal Dolly Travers has to lead at least 10 school tours for more than 1,500 parents who are interested in the program. When state test scores were released, Travers was busy answering phone calls from reporters eager to know the secret to Faria's success.
"Our program is all about the basics," Travers says. "We place heavy emphasis on reading, writing and arithmetic."
The school does include music, art and physical-education classes, but it is the basics that receive the priority.
The school's schedule revolves around maximizing students' learning of the basics. Reading is taught in the morning, the prime learning hours. Although students receive repetition, review and drill toward mastery of the basic skills, Travers says teachers focus on concept development rather than drill and kill.
Not only is the focus on traditional basics, the class is also conducted in a traditional way: with a whole group of students learning in a single-grade-level classroom.
Travers says a common misconception is that students don't enjoy learning in the traditional environment, and she never hesitates to take visitors for a tour around the campus to show the fallacy of that belief.
Consistency is highly valued at Faria. Each grade takes field trips to the same place. Teachers in each grade work as a team to decide the material and teaching methods. Teachers across grades also meet regularly to create a consistent curriculum.
Like all the alternative programs, parent participation is essential at Faria.
Every Monday, students bring home a weekly folder that contains corrected homework, the school's weekly newsletter, the Faria Falcon, and various fliers. Parents are asked to review the returned work with their children and sign the cover sheet on the folder.
"The weekly folder is the most important bridge between home and school," Travers says. "Parents need to sit down and review homework with their children every night. If they cannot make this kind of commitment, they don't need to be here."
Faria Elementary School 10155 Barbara Lane, Cupertino 95014, 408.252.0706
McAuliffe
A K8 parent participation, experiential program based on a developmental education philosophy that emphasizes the needs of "the whole child."
At Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, everything can be a learning moment.
Students learn how to count and categorize when they conduct their Christmas donation drives. They learn history, biology, geology, literature and math when they take a three-day camping trip on the beach. They develop a strong sense of responsibility by tending the school's garden and various animals.
All these hands-on activities illustrate the school's motto: "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."
Principal Dale Jones says McAuliffe celebrates "the whole child" approach. It aims to "provide the total child with an integrated curriculum that addresses social, physical, emotional and academic growth."
The program encourages the four Rs in each child: reliance on self, relish for life, responsibility for actions and relationship to others.
Students have choices in the use of their time, but they also receive specific assignments. Each child is expected to complete daily work in math, writing, reading and language. Experience in art, music, social studies, science and physical education are highly valued parts of the curriculum. Art and music are such important parts of the curriculum that parents and teachers fought against the school district's plan to turn the school's performing-arts center into classrooms.
Students' work is not graded, and the youngsters don't have textbooks until they reach middle school. While most schools depend on tests to evaluate their students' progress, many parents choose not to let their children take tests, including state tests.
"Education is not about teaching the text and getting your children to fit the mold," says parent Susan Kitson, who moved to the school district so her children could attend the program. "We want our children to be critical thinkers, problem solvers and individuals confident in their own ability."
Teachers at McAuliffe act as guides. In a typical math class, students come up with their own problems and their own strategies to solve the problems. Students of different levels and ages learn together. While some students are ready to do equations, some draw to count.
Choosing McAuliffe means a sizable parental commitment. In addition to volunteering four hours a week, parents are encouraged to take a seven-session class to learn parenting skills.
While some parents might worry that students at McAuliffe could have trouble getting adjusted to mainstream classrooms, McAuliffe graduates say the school actually does an excellent job of preparing them for high school.
"I got to enjoy learning. I also learned time management and developed good study habits. The adjustment wasn't that difficult," says Christopher Mo, who attended Kennedy Middle School after graduating from McAuliffe. He is now a freshman at Monta Vista High School.
Christa McAuliffe Elementary School 12211 Titus Ave., Saratoga 95070, 408.253.4696
Murdock-Portal
A program in which students are grouped in open, multi-age villages with teams of teachers using a balance of basic skills and project-based strategies.
Technology is integrated throughout the curriculum at Murdock-Portal Elementary School.
Students use computers for spelling exercises, research projects and typing practice. Unlike most schools where students use computers only during the scheduled lab hour, students at Portal have access to computers anytime. Every classroom has at least six computers, and there are 30 laptops for students to use.
Fourth-grader Kingston Xu, who regularly surfs the Internet for his school projects, says he enjoys using computers. "It is like all the information in the world is stuck in the box," he says.
Although technology is interwoven into every aspect of the program, Murdock-Portal Principal Leslie Mains stresses that computers don't replace teachers, textbooks, papers and pencils. "Computers are used when it is appropriate," Mains says.
The technology-focused program was established in 1995 and has been popular since its inception. Last year, the school had 172 applications for the 60 openings in its kindergarten.
Like Faria, Murdock-Portal's high ranking in the Academic Performance Index is its major attraction.
A score of 965 out of a possible 1,000 put the school far above the interim statewide performance target of 800 in 2002.
Principal Mains attributes the program's success to its "child-centered, curriculum-driven, multi-aged" philosophy.
Students are grouped in multi-age villages with teams of teachers. Grades K1, 23 and 45 are grouped into villages, where students learn collaboratively.
When possible, students stay with the same teachers for two years to facilitate the youngsters' transition through the grades. Parents, teachers and staff help the children make their own learning plans and goals.
A variety of methods are used to assess student achievement, including standardized and nonstandardized tests.
Murdock-Portal's modified year-round calendar also distinguishes it from other schools. School begins in early to mid-August and ends in late June. School vacations are adjusted so the number of school days is the same as for other Cupertino Union School District schools.
"We have a shorter summer break because studies show a lot of information is lost during a long summer break," Mains says.
Parent participation is an integral component of Murdock-Portal's success. Parents are expected to volunteer in the school and to become active in parent organizations.
Portal recently moved to the Carol Murdock Elementary School site in San Jose, where it got the new name "Murdock-Portal Elementary School." "The facility is bigger and was remodeled to better fit our village teaching styles," Mains says.
Murdock-Portal Elementary School, 1188 Wunderlich Drive., San Jose 95129, 408.973.8191
Language Immersion
A Mandarin language program for kindergarten through fifth grade. The program provides core curriculum in English and Mandarin.
For the program's 230 students at Collins Elementary School, Mandarin, a language spoken by more than 1.2 billion people around the world, is a medium of instruction along with English.
"Students don't learn Mandarin only as a language. They learn mathematics, science and other core subjects in both Mandarin and English," says Mary Jew, director of instruction, who oversees the program.
There are 15 immersion programs in Bay Area public schools. The target languages include Korean, Spanish and Cantonese.
The Cupertino Union School District started the language-immersion program in the 199899 academic year with one kindergarten class. The school's goal is to prepare students for future social, academic and career challenges through mastery of a second language, says Principal Karen Barrett.
Mandarin was chosen as the target language because it is the language spoken by the most people in Cupertino other than English. According to the school district, more than 17 percent of its students speak Mandarin.
The program began as a language-enrichment model, and students spoke Mandarin only 30 minutes a day. In the 19992000 academic year, the program expanded to its current model, in which 50 percent of the classes are conducted in Mandarin and 50 percent in English. The only exception is kindergarten, where 70 percent of the classes are conducted in Mandarin to help students whose native language is not Mandarin catch up with their Mandarin-speaking counterparts.
Some parents shy away from the program, worrying that their children might end up being unable to speak either language. But Jew says research has shown that children in two-way immersion programs can improve their primary and secondary language proficiency, develop greater capacity for abstract thought and enhance their overall academic achievement.
Test scores prove that students in the immersion program excel academically. The average STAR test results of the program's students in the academic 200102 year showed second- and third-graders' reading ability was in the 78th percentile. In the language category, students tested in the 85th percentile. And in math, students tested in the 92nd percentile.
The school district adds a grade level each year. There are now two kindergarten classes, two first-grade classes, two second-grade classes, one third-grade class, one fourth-grade class and one fifth-grade class. The school district is planning to extend the program into the middle school level and possibly even to high school.
Collins Elementary School, 10401 Vista Dr., Cupertino 95014, 408.252.6002
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