Area Schools Earn High Marks In ‘Schools For A New
Society’ Initiative
TheChattanoogan.com (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
February 4, 2005
Academic improvement in Hamilton County public high schools was
recognized and celebrated Thursday during a day-long visit by Carnegie
Corp. of New York President Vartan Gregorian.
Dr. Gregorian was the featured speaker at a celebration at Red Bank
High School to document the improvement of Hamilton County high
schools following a mid-day speech to the downtown Rotary Club. The
event at Red Bank High, which featured participation from area high
schools, began at 3:30 p.m. As part of his visit on Thursday,
Dr. Gregorian presented a video on the “Schools for a New Society”
reform effort, which included a segment on Hamilton County.
“Three years into the Schools for a New Society initiative, we are
seeing solid results and improvements in student achievement,
attendance, and attitude,” said Dr. Jesse Register, Hamilton County
Schools superintendent. “Hamilton County students know they will
receive personalized instruction and attention from educators and
others who believe in their future. We are proud of the chance to
showcase our achievements for the agency that gave us the financial
opportunity to see these things happen.”
The Hamilton County school system is one of only seven public school
systems nationwide chosen to participate in Schools for a New Society,
a high school reform program funded with an $8 million grant from the
Carnegie Corp. of New York. Awarded in 2001 for a five-year period,
the Carnegie grant funds innovative programs in 16 Hamilton County
high schools with the goal of raising academic achievement. The grant
was awarded to the Public Education Foundation on behalf of the
Hamilton County school system. The Public Education Foundation is
contributing $6 million in matching local funds.
Dr. Gregorian is beginning a tour of the seven school systems funded
by Schools for a New Society grants. Chattanooga was chosen as the
starting point for the tour because of the results the Hamilton County
schools have achieved through the grant, said Dan Challener, president
of the Public Education Foundation.
“Three years ago, Hamilton County competed against more than 20 other
school systems nationwide for these prestigious grants,”
Mr. Challener said. “We were chosen because of the broad-based input
our reform plan received from educators, students, parents, and
business and community leaders. Now, our community has demonstrated to
the Carnegie Corp. why we were a good choice. It is an honor for
Chattanooga to be the site of the first stop on Dr. Gregorian’s tour.”
President of the Carnegie Corp. of New York since 1997, Dr. Gregorian
also served as president of Brown University for eight years. He is a
noted historian, educator, author and humanitarian and has received
numerous honors and awards for his academic and philanthropic
accomplishments.
Dr. Gregorian was joined at the Red Bank High School celebration by
Dr. Register, Mr. Challener and Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey.
Due to the wide diversity of Hamilton County’s high schools, each
school has developed its own unique blueprint for reform through the
Schools for a New Society program. Four basic goals have been
addressed:
Establishing a more challenging and engaging curriculum
Improving teaching through more professional development
Creating a more challenging and relevant curriculum
Allowing more flexibility to meet student needs more effectively
The special needs of ninth-graders adjusting to high school are also
addressed, with each high school developing its own transition plan
for freshmen.
Through the Carnegie grant, most Hamilton County high schools now
include career academies. Examples include a construction academy at
East Ridge High, a health academy at Red Bank High, and an academy of
industry, technology and business systems at Brainerd High. All
academies combine college preparatory courses with a career theme.