Founding
Vision
Fenway was founded in
1983 as a separate academic program for 90 students who were disengaged from
high school. Its first location was on the top floor of English High, a
traditional district school in the Fenway neighborhood. The founding principle
of the program was that all students can learn¾if
they feel safe, are supported by close personal relationships with their
teachers, and study relevant, in-depth curriculum that stays in tune with
research on human learning and development. Fenway set out to provide a school
environment where student needs were at the center of educational practice, and
where new programs might be developed to better serve their intellectual and
social growth.
The
Fenway program moved several times while still a part of English High. In 1998,
after becoming a full-fledged Pilot school, Fenway returned to its original
neighborhood, occupying the second floor of 174 Ipswich Street, across from
Fenway Park.
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Coalition of
Essential Schools
In
1989, Fenway joined the Coalition of Essential Schools, and applied the
Coalition’s Ten Common Principles to its own developing identity as a school.
The principles are, in brief:
1.
Learning to use one’s mind well
2.
Less is more, depth over coverage
3.
Goals apply to all students
4.
Personalization
5.
Student-as-worker, teacher-as-coach
6.
Demonstration of mastery
7.
A tone of decency and trust
8.
Commitment to the entire school
9.
Resources dedicated to teaching and learning
10.
Democracy and equity
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Pilot School Status
In
1994 Fenway applied for one of the first Massachusetts state charters. It was
granted the charter, but chose instead to lead educational reform in the city by
collaborating with the officials in the Boston school district and teachers’
union to create the Pilot school model. As a Pilot, Fenway gained control over
its curriculum, staffing, schedule, budget and governance.
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Scheduling and “Teacher
Load”
Control
over its own schedule enables Fenway to accommodate adolescent sleep needs.
School begins later in the morning (8:40 a.m.) than most comprehensive high
schools and ends later in the day (3:30 on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday; 2:30 on
Tuesday; 1:00 on Friday).
There
are just four class periods or “blocks” during the school day, plus lunch.
On most days, there are three blocks of about 80 minutes, and one “double
block” of over two and a half hours. These longer periods give teachers time
to use different modes of instruction within the framework of a single class and
to give attention to students who may be struggling with the skills or content
of the lesson.
A
prime advantage of block scheduling, is that “teacher load” is about half
that of teachers in traditional high schools. Class sizes at Fenway may be about
the same, depending on the course and grade level, but since Fenway teachers
have just three classes a day¾plus
an advisory of students they also teach¾they
only have responsibility for the academic work of 75 students. This means that
they can spend twice the amount of time on every student that a teacher in a
comprehensive high school has to spend.
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