Wall-to-Wall Schools at Hamilton
Part I
by Joseph Cook
Communications Editor
LA Chamber of Commerce/UNITE-LA

Welcome to the first in a series of stories on Hamilton High School, home to 3,600 students and eight wall-to-wall SLCs. With newly designated areas for each SLC on campus, Hamilton has had every student in an SLC for four years running.  This month's focus is on the campus's newest small school, Business and Interactive Technology (BIT), run by experienced businesswoman Dina Kraemer.

Dina looks taller than she is, with direct gestures and a friendly but businesslike air about her. A few years ago, she was inspired to change course -- realizing that education is really "where it's at," she says. After 15 years in the healthcare technologies industry, Dina understands and appreciates the entrepreneurial and leadership skills needed to run a successful small learning community.

"What I was doing was meaningful, but working with kids… that's another level. This is the place where the most good can be done," Dina says.

Dina herself began teaching 9th grade algebra soon after she began as director of BIT.

"It's one of the more challenging aspects of the job," she says, "but I think every small school director ought to teach freshmen.  You get a much better sense of your students, and of what your teachers are working with. The kids know you, you know them; it's extremely important." Agreeing that being able to work in smaller groups and create personalized learning environments for students has increased her connectedness to them. 

Liz Hicks is the director of the Communication Arts Academy. In her 22 years at Hamilton, she has seen reform efforts come and go, but says that small schools continue to show the most promise. The restructuring process at Hamilton began 12 years ago, she says, starting with the Coalition for Essential Schools model.

Ms. Hicks agrees that having a strong principal leader has made it easier for the staff to take ownership of their small learning communities. "Michelle King, our current principal, is not only in favor of SLCs, but she actively supports us in everything we are trying to do," says Liz.

Dina concurs, pointing to the building that BIT now lives in, the newest facility on the campus. All but one classroom has a VCR/DVD machine and an LCD projector, with a new TV nestled behind light oak-colored doors in the wall.

"Every one of our teachers applies business and technology in their curriculum," Dina explains. Interdisciplinary methods have proven to be an effective method of teaching within small learning communities like BIT.  "Our students get an education they can apply to real-life right away.  We have a lot of examples… like English teacher Christina O'Keefe, who last week had her kids prepare tri-fold brochures on 21st century job opportunities."

Just yesterday, another class made contact with London using a brand-new video conferencing tool.  "It was exciting!" gushes teacher Andrew Ui as he bustles about, trying to make a connection with Berlin while his class waits patiently.

Meanwhile, groups of students in Marcus Lee’s history class are finishing off 5-minute videos they made about the French Revolution. The videos, a strong illustration of the project-based, interdisciplinary learning uniquely emphasized at BIT, will be added to the digital portfolio that every BIT student carries with them through their years at Hamilton.

The teens produced modern-style newscasts for this assignment. They reported on the 18th Century "Reign of Terror" in England as though it was breaking news. Sophomores Erick Estrada, Marco Franco, Arellio Garcia and Fernando Arredondo are one of the first groups to finish their project today, polishing it off just as the bell rings.

The boys show off their work proudly, chattering away about the historical setting they used.  Filmed in one afternoon, the piece shows news anchors seated at an outdoor bench, introduces a few "on the scene" interviews near a fence, and abruptly ends with Robbespierre’s execution in the middle of the school courtyard.  Before rushing to their next classes, the boys relate more of the relevant history than most Angelenos have probably forgotten.

"It was pretty boring at middle school compared to Hamilton," says one student as he grabs his backpack.  "There were a lot less activities there.  It’s pretty fun here."

Their teacher, Marcus, leaves the computer lab for lunch with a sigh.  Two and a half weeks is a small amount of time to have 30 students use two cameras to film 5-minute segments, but he's managed it, and he's relieved.

Marcus weaves his way through the lunchtime throng like any teacher familiar with the moment when small schools merge again into a huge, comprehensive high school during their lunch time hour. Clichéd niche groups assemble to hang out, and who’s in what SLC can’t be identified now, at least by an outsider.

In the teacher’s branch of the cafeteria, Marcus orders up the "big breakfast" and sets to the same eggs and pancakes the kids are eating.  Before Hamilton, Marcus taught at Mt. Vernon Middle School. The differences, he says, are "night and day.  In a sense, the kids ran the school at Mt. Vernon, but here… you get a real sense of a focused mission."

"It starts at the top."  The right leadership can make or break a school, Marcus explains. "Michelle (King, the principal) runs a tight ship. A lot of the credit goes to the Deans and Michelle," he says.  "But the leadership at BIT is extraordinary. Dina is a visionary. I really think that."

"She hand-picked her team when BIT began, and she keeps us going with her vision.  If a leader has vision, the school has focus.  But it’s not just about leadership, as important as that is – you have to have receptive teachers."  Everyone has to buy in and pitch in to have a school as energetic as Hamilton's BIT.

"Vision without the energy and willingness to make things happen is useless."

At the back of the school, a lonely trumpeter crouches against a pillar, playing his scales. Birds and crows in the trees chatter and howl, an incessant backdrop to the buzz and hum of Hamilton HS.

Keep an eye out for next month's newsletter, in which we'll meet Principal Michelle King and get to know the rest of the BIT team and a few of the other small schools at Hamilton, in our ongoing series about wall-to-wall small schools at Hamilton High School.