There are many different areas that are key to the success of high-performing schools from culture to human capital systems to use of data and academic rigor. Here you can find profiles on schools in the region that are excelling in different areas and what they’re doing that other schools can emulate.
This Gilroy school was not always a strong performer. Then teachers changed their approach and focus, with impressive results. “The focus has been on high expectations for all kids, but also for us. That’s the culture that’s evolved here,” said the school’s principal.
“On a daily basis, it’s about little adjustments,” explains Jen Tillotson, 10th grade geometry teacher. “If my students didn’t get it, what’s the one thing I’m going to focus on tomorrow?”
“The most important thing is relationships. That allows rigor, and relevance follows,” said Assistant Principal Vince Iwasaki.
“The [Hurley staff] never rests,” said Rebecca Carey, mother of Hurley third and sixth graders.
A diagram of the brain hangs at the front of every UP Academy Dorchester third grade classroom, covered with stickers. The stickers represent neurons. When a student struggles with a problem and then gets it, or if she makes a mistake and then corrects herself, her brain grows, and she gets to go up to the board and add a neuron.