12 Pima County schools labeled failing by state

Five of the 12 failing schools are in Tucson’s two largest school districts — Tucson Unified and Sunnyside Unified respectively. They are Lawrence and Maldonado elementary schools in TUSD, and Sunnyside’s Challenger Middle School and the now-closed Los Ranchitos Elementary and Chaparral Middle schools.

All of the failing schools have earned grades of D three years in a row, making them eligible to receive F’s this year. Each will enter school improvement, a process that provides access to extra support and resources aimed to help struggling schools turn around.

The number of failing schools increased significantly from last year — tripling at the state level and quadrupling in Pima County — but the Arizona Department of Education said that is due to grades being calculated differently under a previous system.

The Arizona Department of Education issued grades in August but did not label any schools failing to allow for an appeals process, which is now complete.

The letter grades are based on the weighting of student performance on the AIMS test and student academic growth from year to year, along with additional points awarded for high English-language-learner reclassifications and significant reductions in dropout rates.

TUSD has been implementing intensive interventions at both Lawrence and Maldonado since last school year in an effort to improve, and came relatively close at Maldonado, which was only two points away from earning a C, said Steve Holmes, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

Those interventions have been carried over into this school year, and Holmes said he is confident both campuses, which serve a combined 740 children, will improve enough to shed the F label.

A separate turnaround model is also being implemented at Lawrence through a partnership with the University of Virginia. The program involves training leadership on how to use data systematically to support teachers and students and move the school in the right direction. Staff has also been training on the expectations in place, Holmes said.

For Holmes, the two schools just needed time to put good systems in place to support the curriculum.

“If we continue to approach this work collectively, we can move both schools out of the F label,” he said.

The Sunnyside District is hopeful that a $2.9 million grant will help turn around Challenger Middle School. The school, which serves more than 900 students, was awarded a school improvement grant, which provides more than $1 million the first year, about $965,000 in the second year and nearly $886,000 in year three.

The funds were used to bring a new principal and assistant principals on board, along with instructional support staff, a math coach, a reading coach and an instructional technology coach.

The district believes that not only will the school make an improvement, but that it will serve as a model for all of its middle schools.

Other changes that went into effect this year are shifting from sixth through eighth grades to seventh and eighth grades only.

Each of the grade levels have their own focus and their own assistant principals, creating smaller environments that help students feel more connected to school.

A root cause analysis of the school revealed a challenge with behavioral and social/emotional health issues, so a full-time behavioral psychologist was hired to provide therapeutic counseling lessons, and an alternative to suspension program was created to keep students academically engaged.

Like Lawrence, Challenger is using the University of Virginia turnaround model.

Three charter schools also earned grades of F: Ha:San Preparatory & Leadership School, Compass High School and Academy Adventures Primary School

Rounding out the failing-schools list are four campuses just outside of the Tucson area: Indian Oasis Elementary, Baboquivari Middle and Baboquivari High schools of the Baboquivari Unified School District, and San Fernando Elementary School of the San Fernando Elementary District.

Of the failing Pima County schools, only Indian Oasis Elementary has received a grade of F two years in a row.