A New School for the Tucson Community
City High School was established by Tucson Small School Project to provide a small, personalized public school of choice to families in Tucson, Arizona. City High School applies the best of what is happening in school reform around the country, tailors it to southern Arizona through a rigorous place-based curriculum, and motivates and challenges all students to use their minds well. City High School opened its doors in September 2004 to 85 students in grades 9-10. Over the past several years, the school has continued to expand, with enrollment for the 2007-2008 academic year at 170 students in grades 9-12. Our students come from a variety of middle schools from the greater Tucson area and represent a diverse range of neighborhoods and backgrounds. The school is located in the original Cele Peterson department store in the heart of downtown Tucson.

Program Highlights

Small Size

Recent research indicates that personalized learning environments promote high student achievement. City High School is small, with approximately 45 students in each grade and average class sizes of 20.

High Standards

Our school has a clear set of goals regarding the intellectual skills and knowledge to be mastered by all students. The curriculum is grounded in the study of math, science, social studies, English, and Spanish, but goes beyond mastery in these areas. All students are required to demonstrate their learning publicly and actively.

Emphasis on Place

Place-based learning challenges students to apply what they learn in the classroom to the world around them. The City High School   curriculum is grounded in learning from and interacting with the community of Tucson and southern Arizona. Students and teachers regularly embark on learning expeditions that take them into the city’s many cultural institutions, neighborhoods, businesses, and    surrounding desert areas. Members of the community are a welcome and integral part of the classrooms.

Goals

1. Personalization

City High School will be a learning environment in which every student is known well, feels valued, and receives individual support for their success.

2. Challenging Academic Curriculum  

All students will engage in rigorous learning experiences that require them to use their minds well. The academic program will prepare students for college entrance and will be aligned with state university admissions.

3. Community Connections

City High School will be a community in which students, staff, and families are active and welcome members. Students and staff will connect with partnership organizations and the wider community of Tucson through course work, service learning, and senior internships.  

4. Student Leadership  

All students will learn and experience the democratic process through active participation in their school and community. Students will develop the confidence and empathy to speak their minds, to act, and to lead others.  

5. Diversity   

City High School will bring together students from the many neighborhoods and the various cultural and ethnic backgrounds in Tucson.  Such diversity will allow students to learn from each other and from their community.

6. Institutional Sustainability

City High School will be a stable and financially viable institution with a balanced budget and effective management systems.

Habits of Heart & Mind

An important thread that helps tie together the entire educational program and reinforce real world application and life-long learning is the school’s Habits of Heart and Mind.  These habits are embedded in rich subject matter and depend on students using the skills of reading, writing, logic, computation, research, and scientific inquiry to give them substance. These habits are both intellectual and affective and encourage students to develop consistent, rigorous, ethical, and caring ways of approaching the world. 

Mastery of these habits occurs through a variety of channels. In their core classes and City Works, students are taught how to demonstrate these habits through activities and projects during the year; they are also assessed on their demonstration of the habits. In advisory, students reflect on and further develop their understanding of the habits; they also keep a portfolio that serves to showcase their understanding and mastery of the habits. Students reflect and present more formally and publicly on their progress with these habits several times throughout the school year in semester roundtables with parents, peers, and advisors, and in division gateway exhibitions.

Divisions
City High School is divided into three divisions, which students move through as they progress towards graduation.

• Division 1 for 9th grade
• Division 2 for 10th and 11th grades
• Division 3 for 12th grade

In addition to the expected academic progression of content and skills, the divisions have other elements that define them in distinct ways. Division I is designed to help first-year students transition into City High School, with a strong emphasis on strengthening and instilling the skills, habits, and behaviors needed to be academically successful. Division II is an intensive two-year academic experience for sophomores and juniors.

Division III – the “Senior Institute” – serves as a bridge between high school and the “real world.” In addition to taking classes at City High School, students pursue their own areas of passion and interest through internships and personalized academic plans. The internships allow students to work alongside adult mentors who can offer them opportunities to put into practice skills and knowledge gained in earlier grades. Personalized academic plans ensure that seniors are academically prepared for graduation and post-graduate studies. The Senior Institute helps to achieve the school’s goal that all seniors graduate as thoughtful adults prepared to contribute to their community, pursue post-secondary education, and enter the world of work.

Division Gateway Exhibitions

In order to move from one division to the next, students must demonstrate progress on all of the academic standards, a commitment to learning in all areas of the curriculum, and appropriate development of the City High School’s Habits of Heart and Mind. As part of the division gateway exhibition, students present evidence of their progress—in the form of portfolios—to an invited panel of parents, peers, and community members. Students use semester roundtable conferences to prepare for the more formal Gateway Exhibitions.

Teaching Teams

City High School students are members of a division-level team. Each team includes teachers from a variety of disciplines, such as English and social studies, math, and science. Together, the teachers have autonomy to shape the learning experiences of their students within the parameters set forth by the school’s curriculum and state standards. Teaching teams meet weekly. The team structure strengthens the interdisciplinary connections for teacher planning and student learning, and increases personalization for students and adults at City High School.

Advisory

Advisory groups allow for small learning communities within the larger school community.  Each teacher and administrator at the school has a group of 12-15 students for whom he or she serves as an advisor and the key contact between the school and the student’s family. The groups are cross-grade level, allowing for older students to serve as mentors to those in younger grades. Students remain with the same advisor during all of their years at City High School. Regular weekly advisory time built into the school schedule provide time for students to develop leadership skills, reflect on their learning, prepare for division gateway exhibitions, and plan for post-graduate experiences including college.

Student Support Services

City High School is committed to creating a learning environment that is respectful and responsive to each student¹s needs and allows for full participation of all individuals in every aspect of our community. A
continuum of Special Education and 504 services exists to meet the needs of all students with disabilities. An inclusive environment is maintained, wherever appropriate, with accommodations and modifications administered by the regular education staff. The special education staff offer tutorials and study skills classes for students who require additional direct instruction and one-to-one assistance. In addition, the special education staff coordinate services, train staff, and review progress regularly with the
teachers and parents of each student that qualifies for these services.

Core Classes

All students at City High School take math, science, humanities (English and social studies), and Spanish. These classes meet four times per week. The school’s core curriculum is designed with a commitment to the principles of place-based curriculum, Habits of Heart and Mind, interdisciplinary connections, and preparation for college admission.

Students are the central focus of the learning activities and are challenged to ask and seek answers to open-ended, provocative questions about a range of topics. Teachers develop hands-on and field-based experiences that engage students in active learning. Writing is an emphasis in all of the core classes, as a means of expression and as a way to help generate original, deep thinking.

Visual and performing arts are an important component of the curriculum at City High School. Arts electives are available to all students. Art classes include photography, drawing and painting, theatre, creative writing, drumming, and yearbook/publications. Each year one or more City Works classes focus on issues related to art in the community and/or use artistic means as a way to communicate a message to a public audience.  

Fitness

Each student at City High School, with the support of their advisor, maintains a portfolio that documents their learning and progress in all subject areas and skills, including mastery of state standards, over the course of four years at the school. (See previous section on “Division Gateway Exhibitions.”) In addition to the student portfolio kept in advisory, there are other more traditional means of documenting and tracking individual student progress, including quarterly progress reports, semester grade reports and four-year transcripts. All students are required to take the AIMS tests in Division II and the TerraNova in Division I.

City High School graduation requirements exceed the State of Arizona graduation requirements and align with state university entrance requirements (e.g. University of Arizona). Students who transfer to City High School following their ninth grade year will be given credit for previous high school experience as appropriate.

English                   4 credits

Social Studies        3 credits

Math                       4 credits

Science                  3 credits

Spanish                  2 credits

Arts                         1 credit

Fitness                    1 credit

City Works              4 years (including senior internship)

Advisory                  4 years

Technology Resources

City High School is a 21st century school with wireless connectivity throughout the facility and extensive state-of-the-art technology available for staff and students to enhance teaching and learning. Over 40 laptop computers are stored in mobile carts that teachers can move to their classrooms when needed. All teachers are issued a laptop for their professional use. There are mounted digital projectors in four classrooms with additional projectors available on carts for use in all locations. A collection of both digital still cameras and video cameras are used widely only in media arts courses and integrated throughout the curriculum. All staff and student are issued City High School email accounts and storage folders on the school’s server.

The student information system, Power School, is a web-based program that can be accessed from any computer with internet service. The program includes student and parent portals, allowing students and parents access to student grades, assignment descriptions, and attendance records.

Daily Class Schedule

The schedule at City High School is slightly longer than the traditional school day to maximize academic learning and extracurricular opportunities for students. The seven-hour school day (8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) has additional options for study time before school and extracurricular electives after school. On Wednesdays, the school day begins later for students in order to build in meeting and planning time for staff. Optional after-school activities are available and require activities fees to participate. Teachers are available both before and after school for students who need extra assistance.