NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
21 October 2003

SCHOOL DISTRICT IMPROVEMENTS NOTED AT HARRISBURG HIGH SCHOOL

Harrisburg, PA—Harrisburg High School is experiencing a dramatic rebirth as a result of city school district improvements, Mayor Stephen R. Reed reported today in an extensive listing of some of the current accomplishments at the school. Higher attendance, improved academic performance and a return of school spirit are all making one of the region’s largest high schools better.

The Mayor said most reflective of the new atmosphere at the high school, is the remarkable growth in student enrollment. More than 400 additional students were enrolled in the high school this semester than were registered in June when the past school year ended. Plus the past school year saw a 21% increase in enrollment over the previous school year. These are the first enrollment increases in decades.

The John Harris campus, which is the main campus, now serves 1,520 students, with 300 more attending the ACTS alternative education program at William Penn, 160 more are at SciTech High, the prep school of Harrisburg University, and another 280 are in the Career and Technology Academy, for a combined high school student population of 2,260 students.

Reed said there is a renewed sense of pride and hope at the school in students and teachers, as well as amongst parents of students at the school. The newly-instituted Parent Back-To-School Night drew more than 400 parents, the highest level in years, and recent student social events have been drawing record crowds. For the first time in memory, the John Harris Auditorium is too small to host an all-school assembly, so sessions are held in the football stadium when weather permits or in split sessions indoors.

For the first time in 10 years, the high school had a welcome-back student dance, attended by over 500 students. The event went smoothly.

Mayor Reed said the reform effort at the high school is predicated upon tailoring curriculum to the individual needs of the students so that they can receive the level of support and teaching aid necessary to attain high academic standards.

Fundamental to the change is the establishment of five different on-campus ‘houses’, or Small Learning Communities, that enable teachers to better focus on each individual student’s learning ability. Students are placed in the ‘house’ that best reflects their academic standing and progress, based on assessment testing.

Reed said the innovative reforms represent the first urban high school in the nation to implement academic reform based on individual student needs, along with the professional development support required for teachers to ratchet up academics as the total focus.

Small Learning Communities at the campus include:

• Batteville, led by Assistant Principal James Batte, is comprised of 525 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students in academic college prep, taking advanced placement and college preparatory courses.
• Crewtown, led by Assistant Principal Charles Crewshaw, contains 200 10th and 11th grade students who are also college bound but have a totally common schedule of primary subjects and longer academic periods for additional English and Math support.
• Bankusburg, led by new Assistant Principal Cheryl Bankus, includes approximately 200 9th, 10th and 11th grade students receiving intensive math and literacy training and support. Bankusburg students also have an additional academic session each day.
• Rawlsburg, led by Assistant Principal Jesse Rawls, Jr., has 330 9th grade students who are divided into smaller groups of 110 students each based on individual pre-testing. Each group receives targeted academic support, and has the same group of four instructors all school year who act as an academic, diagnostic and instructional team for those individual students.
• Bankusburg II, led by Assistant Principal Cheryl Bankus and Naval Commander Robert Kanewske, is the Naval Junior Reserve Office Training Corps. 200 students in grades 9 through 12, more than double last year’s number, participate in the military service preparation program. Students undergo rigorous academic and physical training and discipline. It is the largest enrollment in the Naval Junior ROTC Program ever, which is now at Battalion strength.

Each Learning Community teacher team has a full day of release time each week to allow for assessment of student progress, planning and teacher training. During release days, a second group of teachers conducts enrichment seminars to students, covering topics such as technology, business skills, library skills, family and consumer science, driver’s education, Spanish, German, wellness, art, career goal-setting and college preparation.

In addition to the five in-house Learning Communities, Mayor Reed said the District also provides a number of other highly specialized educational curriculums for students, including:

• The ACTS Alternative Education Program, conducted at the William Penn Campus, provides specialized and intensive academic and supervisory services to more than 360 high school students daily.
• The Career and Technology Academy, hosting approximately 375 Students, provides vocational/technical training for students going directly into the workforce in the professional trades.
• SciTech High, the high school prep school with the planned new Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, has 160 students in grades 9 through 12, and is currently housed at the Rowland School. Students will move to their newly renovated permanent quarters in the downtown in September, 2004. SciTech High students receive advanced training in science, mathematics and other technologically oriented subjects.
• Capital Area School for the Arts, hosts a number of city high school students for half-day training in the arts, including theater, acting, lighting, drama and more.

Teachers and administrators are also receiving renewed attention, the Mayor noted, with extensive training, peer review and strategic planning. With the recent and planned physical improvements at the main campus, school district personnel are very excited about the future.

“Clearly we are making progress,” said the Mayor. “But we still have a long way to go to fully provide the very best public education possible. Our extensive new academic activities are starting to turn the Harrisburg School District into a place where children are truly excited about learning, and want to go to school. With the support of our teachers, and with increased parental involvement, the Harrisburg School District is on its way to being something about which we can all take pride.”

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