City High School, a 9-12 charter school started in 2004, demonstrates clear connections to civic learning.

It began as an effort among a group of community members and educators to create a small public school in downtown Tuscon accessible to all students.  They sought to take what they knew was working around the country at wealthier schools and apply it to a different setting. 

The school has no formal relationship with any area districts and is chartered directly through the AZ State Board for Charter Schools.  It has complete control over hiring, professional development, and discretionary funds as long as policies and decisions comply with NCLB, the Charter Board, state law, and its own school board policies.

CURRICULUM
City High requires all students to participate in service-learning for all four years.  Principal Carrie Brennan says, "Our commitment to service-learning is a big deal, and probably a little bit unusual." 

Inspired by the work of Cityworks' David Stevens and Atrius Steinberg, City High School's Cityworks' classes are year-long partnerships with community organizations.  Partners have included Habitat for Humanity, a documentary film arts nonprofit that collaborated with students to create public service announcements, and the Science Center at the University of Arizona.

In 12th grade, students apply their skills in the community to a senior internship. 

Brennan says the curriculum also emphasizes place-based learning.  In its core classes, City High School tries to make the local context as relevant as possible.  For instance, the science curriculum focuses on the desert as an ecological case study.  Seniors studying "Twelfth Night" read the play aloud in the park down the street, and ninth graders perform scenes from "Antigone" in neighborhood settings they think enhance it. 

"Place-based learning is about civic engagement, too," observes Brennan.  "Students learn they are a member of the community.  What they learn in school is related to what’s going on outside the school.  We try to break down the walls between the school and community."

To facilitate engagement with the community, City High School deliberately chose a building in a pedestrian-oriented area.  The school is in walking distance to county and city offices, social service agencies, and museums.  The main downtown bus station is half a block away.  "The school's downtown location not only allows for increased diversity as it facilitates kids getting here from throughout the city, but allows us to get out and go on field trips," she notes.


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Brennan says the key to professional development is building time into the regular school schedule. Every Wednesday, students are released by 1pm for service-learning projects, allowing two-and-a-half hours for staff professional development. 

"I don’t think people see a lot of direct connection between professional development and being part of a democratic school," she says, "but I think they’re linked.  Professional development gives teachers and staff a voice.  Our philosophy is collaborative professional learning communities,  specifically the Critical Friends model."

The Critical Friends Group, a teacher-driven model, meets once a month.  Teachers bring issues and dilemmas to the table and show work they want to have others look at with them.  "It's about building community in a non-hierarchical model," says Brennan.

One Wednesday the full staff has a meeting or attends a workshop.  One Wednesday the staff discusses school-wide goals or the service-learning program, often getting together wtih community partners.  And one Wednesday a month is dedicated to teachers doing their own thing -- grading, planning. 


CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION
The first year City High School was in operation, students and staff used an advisory structure to develop school norms for the community.  To help establish the culture, City High School made large posters with the school norms and displayed them in the halls.

The school's architecture and environment also underscore its culture.  There are no bells, staff and students call each other by first names, and classrooms are separated by translucent walls. 

"We try to maximize the natural light and minimize the feeling that classrooms are walled-up private spaces.  We want everyone to get a sense of what’s going on in terms of teaching and learning," says Brennan.

"Although this is not something that people would usually connect with democracy, I should also mention that we have have really high expectations for graduation: we require four years of math, two years of Spanish.  In traditional high schools, only the college-bound students are held to those. 

"Although some of our students come in way behind, we try to support them to get up to grade level.  That's the rigor piece of the curriculum, and it connects to our democratic mission -- we make sure all students have access to excellent education whether or not their parents went to college."