Students arrive by ambulances, handicap-equipped buses and vans, and private cars. Nurses and physical therapists join the teachers and paraprofessionals who make their way inside to serve Hungerford's special needs students, many of whom are classified as medically fragile and severely to profoundly retarded. At Hungerford, these special students have attracted a special staff. Faculty turnover is low, but when new teachers are hired, they often have previously been paraprofessionals in the school. Staff voluntarily give up six Saturdays a year to learn about topics of their choosing, from CPR, to new educational technology, to special arts programming.
Food is provided for everyone, and the men do the cooking.
Attendance at these gatherings has grown over the years from under a third to an impressive 80 percent of the staff. The collegiality reflected in these voluntary sessions is also apparent in teachers' weekly team meetings. Instead of typical faculty meetings, teachers attend meetings of staff committees that function as self-directed professional development teams. Each team is free to set its own agenda, tied to goals for students. They may request funds to have experts come in, or conduct their own action research, or create curriculum or alternative assessments appropriate for Hungerford students.