Garth Harries heard a complaint about Hillhouse High School Thursday night — a complaint that he might not stick to his guns in the face of complaints.
Harries, New Haven’s schools superintendent, ran into a parent whose child is enrolled in one of the four academies launched within Hillhouse. THe parent said she loves the school and hopes that Harries doesn’t eliminate the academy.
harries told that story Friday on WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven” program. He asked to come on air to speak about progress in New Haven’s schools, on a week when he’s taken a lot of heat. Two newly elected members of the school board said they would vote today, if given the chance, against renewing Harries’ contract. He continued to hear complaints about changes at Hillhouse.
Harries argued on the show that progress has come to Hillhouse. Four-year graduation rates have risen from 41 to 72 percent since 2009, when he came on board as an assistant superintendent to oversee the city’s school reform drive. (He became superintendent in 2013.) Two years ago, over 60 percent of Hillhouse 9th and 10th graders received Ds and Fs on their report cards; that number dropped in the past year to 20 percent.
Above all, despite some criticism, the small-academies-within-a-school concept makes sense, Harries argued. “The comprehesnive model of the 1960s doesn’t work.” Before Hillhouse turned to the academy model, families were “voting with their feet” and keeping their kids out of the school, Harries said.
Harries spoke of other successes, like the introduction of the Youth Stat program helping kids in trouble.
All that said, “that’ not enough,” Harries said. Standardized test scores remain too low, he said. Lots of work remains to be done, not just at Hillhouse, but systemwide.
“We’re doing great work. We need to continue to improve and strengthen,” Harries said.
Click on or download the above audio file to listen to the full interview.
I thought Garth spoke well here. In particular it is absolutely the case that the good news that occurs in schools every day is under-reported to say the least.