Apodaca: Adams Elementary’s Modern Scholars Academy deserves a chance
Will Adams Elementary’s plan to stem the exodus of community residents to other schools actually work?
It’s too soon to say, so the only answer right now is maybe. But the Modern Scholars Academy is an intriguing, ambitious idea that warrants careful consideration by parents, and a fair hearing of Principal Gabe Del Real’s blueprint for imbuing the Mesa Verde neighborhood school with a new luster of academic rigor.
For years, Adams has been freighted with a reputation as a laggard with low standardized test scores and a faculty geared toward the needs of the more than 60% of its students that are English learners, many bused in from other areas. Many of the middle-class Mesa Verde residents take it as a given that the only way for their children to obtain a quality education is to enroll them elsewhere.
In his five years as principal, Del Real has worked hard to dispel that perception. Adams showed improvement, at least as measured by the old standardized tests that are being replaced by the new Common Core-aligned tests this spring. In the last three years, it went from a similar schools ranking of 4 to 8 (out of a possible 10), and its Academic Performance Index (API) score was just shy of the statewide target of 800.
But Del Real realized that more was needed. So with Newport-Mesa Unified Superintendent Fred Navarro, Assistant Superintendent Susan Astarita and Kurt Suhr, the director of elementary education, he crafted the plan for an academy within the school designed specifically for high-achieving students.
“For years prior to me coming to Adams, the Mesa Verde community did not feel that the school met their needs,” said Del Real. “This is a response to that concern.”
Starting next fall, about 25 kindergarten students will be enrolled in this fast-track class, and the program will roll out to other grade levels in succeeding years. Students will initially be selected through a process that involves one-on-one screenings with a staff member and reviews by a panel of teachers.
Students must receive across-the-board grades of 3 or better (on a 1-4 scale) to remain in the academy, and others who don’t qualify initially might be offered a spot in later grades.
All Adams teachers, regardless of whether they teach academy students, will receive specialized training from professors at UC Irvine’s Gifted Student Network beginning in February, with additional training offered next summer and throughout the school year.
Although the academy isn’t billed as a gifted program, such training offers strategies and techniques that will benefit every level, Del Real believes.
The first academy teacher, Domini Possemato, is “extraordinarily talented,” he said, and will provide a model for others to follow.
The training is being paid for out-of-district funds, while the ongoing costs will be borne by Adams. But Del Real noted that refining teaching methods isn’t necessarily an expensive proposition.
“Having a Socratic seminar doesn’t cost a thing,” he said.
I’m slightly inclined to view the academy more as a marketing ploy to lure middle-class kids back to the school with lofty promises of scholarly opportunities. I’m also concerned about the possibility that this school-within-a-school could exacerbate divisions between more affluent and needier kids. And I’m always suspicious when high-minded rhetoric and educational jargon pours forth.
To his credit, Del Real wasn’t put off by my skeptical questioning, and his plan seems well-formed, detailed and grounded in a real desire to improve the school experience. All students will benefit from the new training, he noted, and there’s no reason to think that English learners won’t find their way into the academy. He pointed to the example of one current student who came to the school barely speaking a word of English but is now a thriving high-achiever.
“That could be an arc we see,” he said.
After speaking with Del Real, I found it hard not to root for him. He’s young — he taught for 10 years at other Newport-Mesa schools before moving to Adams — intelligent, personable, confident but not cocky, and fiercely devoted to education. His wife is also an educator, and pictures of his undeniably adorable kids — a daughter, 7, and son, 4 — hang on his office wall.
He has sat in the living rooms of Mesa Verde residents, and walked the community knocking on doors to talk up his school. At an information session on the new academy earlier this month, he came prepared with a Power Point presentation in which he anticipated questions and attempted to address them directly. His speech is largely and blessedly free of the jargon-laden gobbledygook that leaves me cold.
The session went well, he thought, but one of the biggest concerns was this: What if Del Real, the architect of Adams’ reset, leaves the school? What happens then?
Del Real said he has no such plans,
“I love this school,” he repeated emphatically.
But if he ever does move on, his intent would be to leave the academy in good shape to continue without him.
“I get it when a parent says ‘I want the best for my child,’” he said.
I think he does get it and wants the best for Adams’ students too. I wouldn’t bet against him.
PATRICE APODACA is a former Newport-Mesa public school parent and former Los Angeles Times staff writer. She lives in Newport Beach.
