It wasn't that we didn't care. We didn't want to burden them. With funding from the National Science Foundation, among other sources, the collaborative was able to recruit and train mentor teachers, who could then bring their skills into classrooms and serve as personal coaches to provide ongoing support for the transition to higher standards. His boss at the collaborative, Dona Descamps, then followed him to become Pebble Hills principal. In four years they've accomplished a complete turnaround.
Test scores are up and the school is now a magnet for public and private funding.
The computer lab, equipped with Apple G3 laptops, is among the most impressive I've seen nationally. I ask Haupt about the notion that Pebble Hills accomplished its turnaround by purging bad teachers. We try to work with all the teachers. There were some who left, because they had some concerns about the change. And it is harder for teachers, no doubt about it.