Many in Rosemont Consider Waldorf-Style School

Note: This is the second part in a series about enrollment at Rosemont High School and Albert Einstein Middle School. Click here to read part one.

For many parents, one of the main attractions of a small high school just east of Rosemont is what it doesn't have.

"We do not have fights. We do not have theft," said Allegra Alessandri, principal of George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science.

The Rancho Cordova school, the first-ever Waldorf-inspired public high school in the nation, is one of the Sacramento City Unified School District's five small high schools. Alessandri said the school's students get a mix of practical and theoretical education, and its teachers "help students develop as good, strong human beings."

George Washington Carver replaced America's Choice High School, one of the small high schools the district built with grant money that included a $4 million grant in 2001 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Alessandri described that school as "failing," and said only one teacher from that era still teaches at George Washington Carver.

Two weeks ago, parents and prospective students toured the campus, sitting in on classes and looking over the colorful, hand-drawn textbooks students create each year.

Sheri Bethoney, a parent of two Albert Einstein Middle School students, attended the tour and said she's leaning toward the Waldorf-inspired high school for her kids.

"It's a smaller school and I think there will be more attention paid to the students than in a larger school system, where the kids get lost," Bethoney said, adding that her kids have had problems with bullying at Einstein.

Carver's enrollment from Rosemont has risen

The Sacramento City Unified School District's open enrollment window is currently open, and many parents are in the process of deciding where their kids will attend school next year. George Washington Carver has drawn more Rosemont students each year in the four years it's been open, according to district stats.

During the 2009-10 school year, 85 students living in Rosemont attended George Washington Carver, while 1,352 attended Rosemont High School. In the 2010-11 school year, Carver drew 108 from the Rosemont area while Rosemont High School drew 1,302.

By design, Carver is a much smaller school–Alessandri estimates its current enrollment at about 290 students–and the principals of both schools say they aren't in competition for students.

"I think it fits the kind of students who want to see a smaller school with more of a Waldorf focus to it," Rosemont High School Principal Leise Martinez said in an interview in September. "The high school experience is sort of quintessential Americana, but realistically it’s not for everyone."

Alessandri agreed, saying that students who will attend Carver are often the type who don't fit in well at a large, traditional high school.

"I think kids have to be interested in an alternative approach to learning, which includes creativity (and) hands-on learning," she said in October.

During the parent tour of Carver two weeks ago, many prospective students came from Waldorf-style or other non-traditional schools, but some came from Einstein as well.

"Each year we have a huge group of students who come from Einstein," Alessandri said.

Kenneth Reeser, whose daughter is an eighth-grader at the Rosemont middle school, said Einstein has "terrible academics" and poor communication between the staff and parents.

Albert Einstein Principal Garrett Kirkland, in his first year at the school, has said he's working to improve that middle school. Last spring, Einstein's Academic Performance Index scores were the third best of the district's middle schools.

Donna Hager, a College-Glen resident whose daughter attends Bradshaw Christian School, said the smaller size of Carver seemed like it would be "a little less stressful than a regular public school."

"Rosemont High School wouldn't even be an option," Hager said, saying she's concerned about violence at that campus.

Note: A story on violence at Rosemont and Einstein is forthcoming on Rosemont Patch.

While Alessandri was quick to tout Carver's strong points during the tour–math requirements that exceed University of California entry standards, a seventh-period "Waldorf Wheel" class of rotating electives, art that plays a major role in the classroom–she also encouraged parents to decide whether the school was "the right kind of community (and) mood" for their kids.

If they decide it's the right school for them, the prospective students will have to apply by turning in something describing themselves. But in what can be characterized as typical style for the Waldorf-inspired school, students' applications have included essays, poems, songs, plays, a quilt or a batch of homemade baklava.

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George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science is located at 10101 Systems Parkway in Rancho Cordova. More information is available at http://www.carverartsandscience.org/.

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Related:

• Stats: Where Do Rosemont Kids Attend High School?

Note: This is the second part in a series about enrollment at Rosemont High School and Albert Einstein Middle School. Click here to read part one. Next: Some parents say they're concerned about violence at Einstein and Rosemont. Is there actually more violence at those campuses?