Lake Ridge Schools look for new tact with 'new tech'

CALUMET TWP. | Fewer than half of all students at Lake Ridge Schools passed the English/language arts and math portions of the state's ISTEP achievement test last year. The average SAT score at Calumet High School is 825 -- the national average is 1,500. The dropout rate was 47 percent last year, while the graduation rate was 66.7 percent. And the high school has been on academic probation for six years.

Enough is enough is enough.

Superintendent Sharon Johnson-Shirley said the district intends to take dramatic steps to turn itself around.

Johnson-Shirley and about a dozen key Lake Ridge Schools administrators made a presentation to a handful of local businesses, politicians and labor leaders, asking them to partner with the school as it incorporates a new education model.

Next fall, Johnson-Shirley hopes to create a "new tech" high school within Calumet High School starting with the freshmen class. The district hope to add a grade each year until the program encompasses the entire high school.

"This isn't a pie in the sky idea," she said. "We have researched this for two years. It's the right thing to do for our children."

If it happens, Calumet High School will be the only new tech high school in Northwest Indiana.

The new tech model focuses on small classes that allow more teacher interaction, requires a computer for each student and uses a project-based approach to learning. While curriculum is based on state academic standards, project assignments span multiple subjects and use new technology skills, including the use of Web sites and multimedia presentations.

Since its inception in Napa, Calif., in 1999, the new tech model now is in place in 40 schools in nine states, including six in Indiana. The Center of Excellence for Leadership of Learning at the University of Indianapolis, in partnership with the New Technology Foundation in Napa, helps administer the programs in Indiana.

Calumet High School guidance counselor Cynthia Trevino said it's going to take the district about $4 million over the next four years to bring its plan to fruition. She said they need $1.4 million now to renovate the high school. Teachers also will have to be re-trained.

"We want to partner with the business community and other organizations," she said. "Our students will be looking for internships. We're going to develop students who will be critical thinkers."

Calumet High School Principal Tim Pivarnik said the district wants to give students a reason to come to school, be ready for college or, if they choose not to attend college, make better career choices.

Eddie Melton, with the Legacy Foundation, said he was intrigued with the idea. He said he believes there may be some seed grant money available.