Domus Rehired, With New Demands

As the school district renews a contract with a charter group to run a middle school for troubled kids, it’s focusing on how to find the right students to fill the classes — and make sure they stay there.

Enrollment, as well as new performance standards for behavior and standardized tests, were the foci of a new contract OK’d this week between the school district and Domus, the Stamford-based not-for-profit social services agency.

Domus, which runs charter schools in Stamford, became the first outside group to manage a city ​“turnaround” school when it took over the Urban Youth Center last fall under the name Domus Academy. (Click on the play arrow above for a snippet from a classroom toward the beginning of the year.) Over the summer, the district reviewed Domus’ performance and decided to rehire the organization to manage the school for another year.

Click here to read the contract, which the school board approved unanimously with no discussion at a special meeting Monday. Domus signed the contract earlier that day.

Domus Academy, which just relocated to a swing space on the Ella Grasso Boulevard, is now preparing for the second year of a ​“turnaround” aimed to lift performance of one of the city’s most struggling schools, which specializes in kids with behavioral problems who have failed in traditional school settings.

The school is designed to serve 48 kids in grades 6 to 8. Last year, Domus Academy ended the year with 36 students, according to Craig Baker, Domus Academy’s chief education officer.

Will Clark (pictured), chief operating officer for the New Haven school district, said the smaller-than-expected enrollment ​“actually worked out OK last year” because it was a transition year.

As Domus Academy moves into its second year, Clark said, ​“we want to make sure all sides are focused on trying to get as close to 48 [students] as possible.”

So far, 40 of the school’s 48 spots at Domus have been filled, Baker said.

Define ​“At Risk”

The new contract outlines expectations designed to keep that number from slipping below 40. New language outlines the type of students who Domus can expect to be sent to the school as well as a financial incentive to keep enrollment higher than the past year.

According to the contract, the district will pay Domus $767,200, in monthly installments, to run the school with 48 kids. That includes $560,700 for administrative and support salaries of staff provided by Domus. It doesn’t include the cost of the eight classroom teachers, who are unionized employees paid directly by the New Haven school district.

If enrollment drops below 40 kids, the district will now reduce Domus’ payment by $85 per day per student below 40 or $1,401.39 for each full month. That deduction will happen only for cases where Domus rejects a student who is sent to the school, or ​“asks for the removal of any student” who fits the profile for kids at that school.

What is the right profile for a Domus student?

Domus is set up to accept 48 ​“at risk” students, the contract reads. ​“At risk” means they (1) ​“may present chronic and severe behavior problems, whether due to disabilities or not; (2) may be truant and/or (3) may be returning from secure facilities on parole or probation.”

The contract specifies that New Haven’s superintendent and his ​“delegates” will refer kids to Domus — and they will ensure Domus is involved in making sure the placement is appropriate and the transition is smooth.

The Board of Education ​“acknowledges its responsibility to avoid placing students who need class ratios or supportive services beyond those offered in the DOMUS program,” the contract reads.

Last year, about 54 percent of Domus Academy kids fell into the special education category — compared to 11 percent districtwide. Baker said that wasn’t too much to handle — Domus’ sister school, Stamford Academy, had a rate of about 40 percent, he said.

But the high number of special education students appeared to be a factor in the attrition rate.

Eight of the 44 kids who started at Domus last fall, as well as three staff members, left the school by the end of the year, according to Mike McGuire, who served as principal at Domus Academy last year. One left to be home-schooled. Others were special needs kids who went back to ACES, where they’re educated in self-contained classrooms, McGuire said.

Those students sought ​“a more structured” environment, McGuire said in an interview at the end of the year. Domus students are mixed together during the day, moving classrooms for subjects, and joining up for group activities during after-school programming. McGuire said for kids who are used to self-contained classrooms, where they stay with the same students and teacher the whole day, Domus provides ​“a lot of stimulus.” Some kids ​“couldn’t adjust,” he said.

Baker said that Domus didn’t receive any kids who were an inappropriate fit for the school. He said the revised contract simply aims to clarify expectations.

“We wanted to be clear about the profile of kids that we were most successful with,” Baker said.

He said the school is intentionally starting the year with 40 kids to allow for a half-dozen referrals from other schools during the rest of the year.

Six teachers who ended the year with Domus will be returning. Domus has filled its two teaching vacancies, Baker said. (Two teachers left in the middle of last school year; only one was replaced.) Unlike last year, Domus will not be providing an auxiliary teacher at its own cost, Baker said.

Goals Set

The new contract now holds Domus Academy to specific performance goals. That’s a trend in accountability that began over at Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy in the Hill, where a private company is preparing to take over a much larger, comprehensive elementary school.

Domus Academy now pledges to meet the following goals:

• 75 percent of students will show more than a year’s progress in literacy (as measured by the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) and the STAR Enterprise tests)
• Growth on the Connecticut Mastery Test will rank in the top half of New Haven Public Schools as measured by individual student growth, ​“with the target of growth at the 55 percentile.”
• Overall student average daily attendance will be at least 87.5 percent.

The contract also calls for individual kids to attend more school than they did before: ​“In aggregate, students in the program will improve their attendance over prior year attendance, so that among both new and existing students twice as many students will substantially (plus or minus 2.5%) improve attendance as substantially decrease attendance.”

Domus aims for more than 80 percent greater of parents, students, and staff at the school to ​“recommend” the school when they fill out the annual school climate survey.

Last year, the school met that goal with parents, and came close with students, 78.9 percent of whom reported they ​“feel good” about the school, which is the most relevant question. Participation among teachers was too low to yield any results. That’s because teachers appear to have taken the wrong survey — the one designed for non-teaching staff — Baker said. (See the survey results here.)

The contract also outlines a new way to track student behavior. The new tracking method will look at the number of times each kid is suspended or sent out of the classroom to a ​“problem-solving room,” compared to the number of times that kid was suspended or sent out of the room the prior year.

For new students, Domus aims for a 33 percent reduction in suspensions for new students and a 50 percent reduction in ​“problem solving” referrals, then a 15 percent decrease each both of those categories each subsequent year.

Baker said those goals will help kids learn more: ​“We believe that kids are going to achieve academically if they’re in the building. Our target is to keep these kids in school.”

He called the set of goals ​“fair and reachable targets.”

Much of the first year was spent establishing a new culture and expectations in the school, which has a longer school day, uniforms and a clear set of rules for everything from breakfast time talks to how to walk down the hallway.

“One of our biggest accomplishments is really laying the foundation of school culture,” Baker said. Now that kids are returning to the school for Year Two, he said, ​“they know what to expect.”

With the foundation in place, Baker said, the school will be able to focus more on other important pieces such as boosting time on task in the classroom. ​“We’re definitely looking to take that next step next year,” he said. Another goal is to create a functional parent body, such as a PTO, to get parents involved in decision-making.

New teachers are already training in Theraputic Crisis Intervention, and all the staff is set to assemble at the school on Monday, Baker said. The school will have a new principal, Billy Johnson, who grew up in New Haven and recently led the Julia A. Stark School in Stamford. Mike McGuire, the former Domus Academy principal, has been promoted to a job where he’ll work with several Domus-run schools.

Mike Duggan, the CEO of Domus, said the organization is ready to build on the groundwork set in its first year in New Haven.

“We went into this knowing it takes time to change behaviors — whether that be a young person or an adult,” he said. ​“We’re looking forward to another good year.”

Past Independent stories on Domus Academy:

• Christian Graduates Twice
• ​“Reform” Principals Check In
• Charter Experiment Banks On Rookies
• Domus Kids Learn New Math, Circa 2010
• Parents Get The Drill For An Experimental Year
• City To Double TFA Hires
• Two Failing Schools Aim High
• Domus Gets New Domus
• Challenges Await ​“Turnaround” School
• Mr. Paul Delivers The Pants
• ​“Turnaround” Work Begins At Urban Youth
• Schools Get Graded — & Shaken Up