District 158's Freshman Academy gets underclassmen off to good start

When the Huntley Unit District 158 school board hired John Burkey as the district's new superintendent at the end of 2005, Burkey said he wanted to shift the focus from the district's finances back to education.

At the same time, the school board gave Burkey a mandate for improving test scores and graduation rates while managing District 158's rapid growth.

At Huntley High School, meeting this mandate was particularly acute. As the high school's population grew, groups that were once too small to be counted were now crucial to the school's success in the eyes of the state.

Not only did the high school have to raise overall student performance, but the school had to get these swelling minority groups performing at a higher level to get a passing grade from the state.

Another factor was the construction of two new middle schools. Students who were previously housed in the same building as high schoolers now would be separated from older students.

Much of the high school's resources had been devoted to helping upperclassmen prepare for the ACT, meet their course requirements and plan for life after high school.

But Burkey, with the generous aid of educators at the high school, decided to focus on what had been an overlooked segment of the high school population: the freshmen.

By starting freshmen off on the right foot, Burkey and others reasoned, the students would have the skills they needed to excel during the rest of their high school careers.

"When they start high school and find success, they tend to continue that success throughout high school," said Greta Rakow, dean of the freshman class.

Burkey introduced an idea that he had implemented at Dunlap Unit District 323, the downstate district where he last worked. The idea became reality this year with the opening of the high school's Freshman Academy.

The best way to picture the Freshman Academy is as a school within a school. Freshmen are isolated from their older schoolmates in first-floor halls that contain their lockers and dedicated freshman classrooms.

Teachers in the Freshman Academy teach only freshmen in the core subjects -- math, reading, science and social studies.

Rakow, whose chief responsibility is to oversee the academy, credits the enthusiasm of the freshman teachers with the success of the program so far.

"For the most part, this was created and designed by teachers," Rakow said.

Two teachers, Renae St. Clair and Kurt Rohlwing, run an after-school tutoring program for students called Raider-aid, after the Huntley High School mascot, the Red Raiders.

On the first day of Raider-aid, six students showed up for extra help. Since then, more than 200 students, including upperclassmen, have sought help from teachers through the after-school resource.

Students in the 11th and 12th grades have also pitched in to help the freshmen. About 65 of the older students volunteer as part of the Link Crew to visit the freshmen during their advisory period each week.

During the visits, the upperclassmen lead the younger students in activities, answering questions the freshmen have and playing the role of mentors as the young teens navigate a school filled with 1,700 students, most of them older.

For the first time, the freshmen even have their own counselor, Angie Daurer, who uses what is called the Pyramid of Interventions.

The pyramid, developed with the help of math teacher Shelly Kish and Marlowe Middle School Principal Mike Moan, outlines a series of steps to help struggling students get back on the right foot.

"I don't know how I could see as many freshmen as I have this first quarter (if not for the Freshman Academy)" Daurer said. "If I had to have seniors on my caseload too, I think freshmen would get the short end of the stick."

So far, the anecdotal evidence suggests the Freshman Academy is working. Attendance and discipline issues are down, Rakow said.

But the real data analysis will begin at the end of the fall semester, when teachers and administrators can look at grades and compare notes to determine what's working and what needs tweaking.

The true test will come in the next three years, when the current freshman class takes the ACT and finishes high school.

"We have to wait and see … so in the end we can hopefully raise ACT scores and graduation rates," Rakow said.