SCHOOL OF THE WEEK: Art is Heart of Charter School’s Curriculum

By John Sena, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Apr. 3–When staff at Turquoise Trail Charter School decided to apply for a charter about 11 years ago, it wasn’t because they wanted to make drastic changes to the school’s curriculum. In fact, they didn’t want to change much at all.

What they wanted to do was keep an already arts-filled curriculum intact in the face of changing policies and top-down management in the Santa Fe school district.

“When Yvonne Gonzales became superintendent, she took away a lot of site-based management,” said Linda Archibald, a literacy specialist at the school.

At that time, Archibald said, many schools were cutting arts and music programs, which was something the school did not want to do.

So the staff worked with the community and decided creating a charter school was the way to keep things to their liking and continue to provide an arts education.

“It was not just teachers but our entire community,” Archibald said. “We had forums to make sure our parents wanted a charter school.”

When Turquoise Trail’s charter was approved for the 1994-95 school year, it became one of the first charter schools in New Mexico. It also was the only school to convert from a traditional public school to a charter school.

The change meant the school could become nearly autonomous. While the school still received funds from the state, its staff had more choices about where the money went and teachers were not affected by districtwide policies.

Turquoise Trail celebrated its 10th anniversary as a charter school last year, and teachers continue to revel in the choices the school allows.

“I love my school,” said Karen Sixkiller, a fifth-grade teacher at the school. “I have freedom in the way that I present the curriculum. Other teachers don’t have that freedom.”

But staff members at Turquoise Trail are beginning to worry that federal mandates on schools might have ill effects on the school.

Charter schools, while independent of district supervision, still must comply with requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Turquoise Trail failed to meet those requirements last year because its special-education population was not proficient.

The school’s staff members worry that the mandates could force schools to leave arts behind. “I think one of our biggest challenges is to keep the balance,” said Susan Phelps, a longtime teacher. “We want to find a balance of keeping all that we have under those mandates.”

Sandy Davis, the school’s principal, admits that testing has helped staff learn what areas students need more work in, but she wants to ensure “we can have the option to choose what’s best for our kids.

“As a charter school, it’s important for us to keep our curriculum broad,” Davis said.

Despite the challenges, staff members share the school’s goals and have developed strong bonds. “It’s a very positive environment,” said Debbie Parke, a sixth-grade teacher. “Teachers are happy, and there is a lot of cooperation.”

And even students notice how much care they get. Chris Brown, a second-grader at the school, described a scene after school one day in which Davis put aside a load of paperwork to help a student in the aftercare program.

It made a deep impression on Chris and made him realize how teachers feel about their students. “They put us before themselves,” Chris said. Contact John Sena at 995-3812 or jsena@sfnewmexican.com.

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