Huntington School Uniforms First in 20+ years

NOTE: Originally posted Friday, Aug. 6, 2010
By Lisa E. Crowley
Brockton Post
BROCKTON—When students at the Huntington School in Brockton return to classes in September there will be at least two noticeable differences.
The first is students will begin class one hour earlier at 8 a.m. and the second is some of their classmates will be wearing a uniform--changes which are a part of a redesign plan aimed at improving the underperforming school.
“This is one of a kind in the city,” said School Committee member Richard Bath about the uniform initiative. “The Huntington is a test case, an experiment on improving an underperforming school and I think it’s a really great idea,” he said.
Students will have the option of wearing school uniforms when classes begin Sept. 2—a reform that hasn’t been in effect in Brockton for more than 20 years.
School Deputy Superintendent John Jerome said in the early 1980s students and teachers at the Arnone Elementary School participated in a uniform option for several years, but the initiative faded with time.
“Like the Arnone, uniforms are optional. It’s up to the parents--and the students,” Jerome said.
Huntington’s uniform colors are khaki, blue and white and students may wear collared shirts and sweaters with khaki pants, shorts or skirts.
Jerome said a letter from Principal June Saba to Huntington School parents that outlines the changes were sent via mail Wednesday and should already be in residents’ mailboxes.
An open house for questions and more on the plan's initiatives is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 7 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Jerome said last Septmember when Saba took over as principal she worked with teachers and parents to come up with ideas to increase student performance overall and on MCAS scores and the redesign plan is the result of that year-long process.
Jerome said during hearings about the new plan in June and July parents voiced overwhelming support for uniforms—especially from parents of an estimated 350 of the school’s nearly 550 students who are of Cape Verde descent and accustomed to wearing uniforms to school.
He said new parents moving into the district will be made aware of the changes as they register.
“It’s up to the parents—we’ll see how it goes,” Jerome said, noting Huntington’s K-5 population are more likely to embrace a uniform option than their middle school and high school counterparts.
“It might be more difficult for parents to get the older students to wear a uniform,” Jerome said.
The new uniform option was approved by the school committee in mid-June and is part of a larger plan to improve MCAS scores and instruction at Huntington and stave off potential negative state and federal education department designation that could force an overhaul of the Huntington under revamped federal No Child Left Behind regulations.
“The Huntington is a Level 3 school,” Jerome said. "All sorts of things happen if we become a Level 4 school under the new designations—this is a way to show that we are not waiting until we reach Level 4 to do something,” he said.
He said Huntington is not the only Brockton school with a Level 3 designation, but it has been struggling longer to improve than some of the others.
Drastic Level 4 steps could include replacing principals and teachers similar to the firings and upheaval at a Central Falls Rhode Island high school earlier this year.
One of the primary steps toward improving MCAS scores--which have not improved over the last two to three years putting the school at Level 3—is to begin classes at 8 a.m. instead of 9.
School officials said the teacher’s union has agreed to the new start time and the additional 60 minutes will be spent improving and enhancing instruction in core subjects like math and science and especially English.
The estimated $185,000 to $225,000 cost for the extra hour was mostly paid by cuts in other areas, Jerome said and was part of budget discussions in July when the 2010-2011 budget was approved.
Tim Sullivan, head of the Brockton Education Association, said teachers worked alongside administrators and parents to make the plan work and negotiate compensation for the 8 a.m. opening, which was agreed upon months ago.
"There were obvious signs like the MCAS scores that indicated something new had to be done at the school," Sullivan said. "You have to commend the teachers, administrators--everyone for trying to do something new," he said.
Jerome said the extra hour will help teachers concentrate on English and comprehension skills because more than half of the school’s students do not speak English as a first language.
MCAS scores, Jerome said, show the mostly Cape Verde students are having a difficult time with short answer questions and more instruction will improve those skills.
“All the studies say extended day is the way to go,” Jerome said.
As part of the redesign plan, Jerome said, non-English speaking students will be “looped” together with teachers for two or three years to foster a more productive and effective learning climate.
For more information about uniforms, the new start time and Huntington's overall redesign plan visit the Brockton Schools' website.
(Photos courtesy Brockton Public Schools)