State of the Schools
by Lorine Parks
“If we could only make one change, what should it be?”
That was Superintendant of the Downey Unified School District John Garcia’s question to Downey, as he made his annual State of the Schools Report to our club.
Downey schools have a deservedly excellent reputation, and the high school graduation rate is an outstanding 96%. Assistant Superintendant Roger Brossmer commented, “That’s my job to see to that.”
But as Roger pointed out, “It’s not good enough anymore to be a high school graduate.”
Students have to be fit not just to go on to college, but to continue in a trade or tech school, if that is where their aptitude lies. There is a need for advanced training to go to a job, and to practice critical thinking.
So much has been added lately to the curriculum in terms of STEM subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering, Math. John and Roger recently travelled to Washington DC to receive a Certificate proclaiming the DUSD as a “21st Century District,” And we were only one of two districts in California to receive that distinction.
Much of the credit has to go to our Dr. Mary Stauffer, whose Foundation gave, in this year alone, over $320,000 to the Downey schools. Her eponymous Stauffer Middle School’s project in robotics is a case in point. For her generosity, the club rose to applaud Mary and gave her a standing O.
“We’re better today than we were yesterday. Tomorrow we’ll be better than we are today,” Roger said.
“What could we do better?” Roger asked. “We’re looking at a seven period day.” An innovation the District is considering is making the school day consist of seven periods, instead of the current six. “Zero Period” could be used for students to take enrichment courses, or for the staff to assist students who are struggling.
How to compensate teachers for the additional effort; whether to make the school day longer or the periods shorter: those are issues that need to be solved, in consultation with Jim Mogan, union representative for the California Teachers Association. “We want to bring the parents in too,” said Roger.
Girls need more encouragement to go into STEM subjects, if they too are to be accepted to enter “MIT, Harvard and Stanford,” added Roger.