It does, however, take shared motivation, outside expertise, community engagement, and time and resources to make the difficult conversion. Small size is necessary but not sufficient to create a great school. Staff has high expectations for all students and a shared vision of good teaching. Staff has time to collaborate to improve instruction and meet shared challenges. Instruction and promotion are based on demonstrated learning.
Every student has an advocate at school.
The school environment promotes respect and responsibility. Technology is used as an effective teaching and learning tool. There are hundreds of great small schools around the country that embody these attributes. Most charter schools are small and many share these attributes. Schools that Work The Julia Richman High School in mid-town Manhattan used to have a graduation rate of 25 percent.