Two years ago, Eric Acosta-Verprauskus told his wife he was interviewing for a job as principal at Verde Elementary. The school had a reputation as an incredibly tough place to work. The last four principals had lasted an average of less than two years. “All the terrible things you hear about rough public schools were true here,” says Mr. Acosta-Verprauskus.
His wife’s reaction was atypical, but then they are hardly a typical couple. Originally from Kansas, Katherine Acosta-Verprauskus (pronounced vur – PRASS -cuss) dropped out of her UC Santa Barbara doctoral program to teach at a struggling school in Richmond. The two met there and completed the prestigious New Leaders for New Schools principal training program. She is now a principal at Montalvin Manor Elementary School on the other side of town.
Eric and Katherine Acosta-Verprauskus on site at Verde Elementary.
“This is the opportunity,” she said. “Go for it.”
Richmond’s city limits sketch a sort of lobster claw: downtown and the train lines in the southern, fatter portion; a mall and scattered developments in the slimmer, northern piece. Pinched in between is North Richmond.
North Richmond, officially neither part of Richmond nor a city in its own right, has long been denied access to basic services, education among them. Crime is a persistent problem and businesses have faltered. Vacant lots dot the neighborhood, a rare site in the booming Bay Area economy.
This is where you’ll find Verde Elementary School. Over 99% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. As Mr. Acosta-Verprauskus knew, the school’s poor performance was a matter of more than reputation. In 2000, Verde had the lowest test scores of any school in the state.
“The reason why I got into this work was to come to schools that are in the most need, the ones who were failing kids the most. Verde was top of the list,” says Mr. Acosta-Verprauskus, who was offered and accepted the position, and has now concluded his second year with the school.
Montalvin Manor Elementary, Katherine Acosta-Verprauskus’s school, is also outside the city limits, part of unincorporated Contra Costa County, just north of the small claw. Like Verde, the student body is low income (91% free and reduced price lunch) and predominantly Latino and African American.
But Montalvin has developed a reputation as a high-performing school. It is a California Gold Ribbon school, a Title I Academically Achieving school and was featured in our Top Bay Area Schools for Underserved Students.
In an analysis by Innovate Public Schools and GreatSchools, Bay Area schools were assigned a predicted GreatSchools score, called the Similar Schools Score, based on their student population. Montalvin outperformed its predicted score by three points out of ten, something only a handful of other Bay Area schools accomplished.
“We had a plan and we stuck to it,” says Ms. Acosta-Verprauskus. “You care about kids. You plan purposely for kids. You get results from kids. I really don’t think it’s rocket science.” Now, she says, her husband is following the same plan.
Next week we’ll share the approach that Katherine Acosta-Verprauskus took at Montalvin and that Eric Acosta-Verprauskus is adopting at Verde.