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School Profile
Presidio High School is a charter high school located in Tucson, Arizona, that opened in 1996. It currently enrolls approximately 350 students in grades 9-12. The school is described in the Center for Education Reform's National Charter School Directory 2000 as one that offers "…homeless and adjudicated youth an individualized course of instruction that not only focuses upon academic correction and remediation but engenders self-worth and prepares students for a productive future." The lead administrator at Presidio notes that the most important issue that prompted the formation of the school was a desire "to assist young adults who had dropped out of school or who were failing in school to receive a basic education that would prepare them for the world of work." Another administrator adds, "Tucson has historically had a high dropout rate among secondary school students. Many students feel that they cannot keep up with the pace of traditional classroom settings, or have trouble juggling the variables in their lives outside the educational environment-[including] work, family responsibilities, and children-with school attendance. Presidio High School was chartered with the needs of these students in mind."
Presidio's core philosophy, in the words of its lead administrator, is that "no student is allowed to fail or get left behind." The school offers a self-paced learning environment, in which students work at their individual ability level "as determined by the teacher and student working together." If a student does not understand a concept, the teacher works with the student until the concept is mastered. A "C" is the lowest grade that a student may receive. Students are required to achieve a 75% or better on all assignments before continuing on to the next assignment. Students who do not reach the minimum on their first attempt are provided with additional instruction and given as many opportunities as needed to meet the 75% level. The lead administrator goes on to note, "Students are willing to attempt more challenging courses because they know that they can't fail and it won't have a negative impact on their GPA. In a recent survey conducted with students and parents, a high percentage of the surveys indicated that students wanted to go to school for the first time. They also indicated that students were 'successful' academically for the first time."
Specific student outcomes that are valued most highly at STHS include
the following (as cited by the school's lead administrator):
INVOLVED GROUPS AND DECISIONMAKERS Planning and development at Presidio were influenced most prominently by three groups of stakeholders: educators, business/industry/trade nonprofit employers, and community advocates. The most significant stakeholders in terms of the school's policies, organizational mission, and direction are the principal/director, high school staff, and students. In matters of curriculum and instruction, the most influential participants are the principal/director, teachers and high school staff, business interests, and students. The governing board of Presidio is characterized by the school's lead
administrator as being "influential in all matters and issues including
curriculum and instruction." Parents play a key role in governance,
marketing/public relations, and providing advice to the school, while
employers perform a number of key functions that include governance
and provision of learning opportunities outside the school.
The Presidio curriculum, as described above, is designed to be self-paced on the part of the student, and no student is allowed to fail or get behind. The school's lead administrator describes the curriculum as having "a few differences" from that found in a traditional high school, although the primary difference is, "We provide more remedial courses than a typical high school and we offer a much stronger school-to-work component throughout our curriculum. The curriculum is similar, but the delivery is very different." The curriculum is organized around usual academic subjects commonly referred to as Carnegie Units, and is presented in an "inquiry-based, non-lecture style format." It is prescribed "very precisely" for teachers. In terms of curriculum-related goals, the lead administrator notes that it is "somewhat important" that students be prepared for a particular career, career cluster, or occupational cluster, but "very important" that students understand links between academic subjects and adult life in the real world. The most common methods used to deliver the curriculum include projects requiring use of the community, lessons based on teacher-developed units, hands-on activities, and portfolios of student work. Real-world learning opportunities that offer students opportunities
outside the classroom are described as being a "strong emphasis"
of curriculum and organization at Presidio, with administrators noting
that all students experience such opportunities. Specific forms that
these real-world practices take include the following:
Presidio has encountered a number of challenges since opening in 1996. One challenge described by its lead administrator is the low proficiency level of many of its students and designing a curriculum to meet these students' needs. The administrator notes, "…A number of the students who enrolled in the school scored very low on the entrance exam. Many scored at a 4th grade equivalency in Language Arts and Math. The challenge was to provide a curriculum that was at a high school level while offering courses that would remediate deficiencies. The second part of the challenge was to make sure that the teachers did not "dummy down" the curriculum so that the students could pass work at a 75% proficiency [level]." As a solution to this problem, the administrator and Lead Teacher found high interest/low reading level textbooks to use until reading levels could be raised. Graduation requirements were changed to require all students to earn .50 credits in Reading and 1.50 credits in Grammar and Writing." The presence of many charter schools in the Tucson area also presented a challenge to Presidio. The school's lead administrator notes, "…In addition to the government operated public schools, there are over 40 charter high schools in Tucson. This has created a situation where students hop from school to school. They are not looking for the best education, but the easiest. Abiding by the rules is not as great an issue, because there is always another school to attend. Some of the students have attended over 16 different high schools. The average number of high schools attended is four. The only way to resolve this issue is to assume that attendance will be an issue and base the budget on a high student turnover. The other solution is to create a school atmosphere where the students want to attend, are willing to be academically challenged, and are well behaved in order to be able to attend." Three final challenges identified by the lead administrator at Presidio
include the following:
Presidio High School
1695 Fort Lowell Road Tucson, AZ 85719-2319
Tel: (520) 881-5222
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