Melissa Bailey Photo
When Robert Ratchford showed up for orientation at his son’s new school, staff promised round-the-clock services — and asked him to do his part in return.
Ratchford and his son, Javis Wilson (pictured, left to right) showed up promptly to a 5 p.m. barbecue Thursday at the Domus Academy, a newly transformed New Haven middle school at 130 Leeder Hill Rd.
The school, housed in a swing space right next to the Highville Charter School in Hamden, will be the site of a much-watched experiment, as New Haven for the first time turns over a failing school to a charter group.
Domus, a social service agency that runs two charter schools in Stamford, has taken over the former Urban Youth Center. It is set to open rechristened as Domus Academy on Wednesday. The school will be one of two “turnaround” schools being reconstituted as part of an ambitious citywide school reform effort.
Domus is not-for-profit and handles kids who have struggled in traditional settings. Many come with a record of scrapes with the law, or emotional and behavioral problems.
Those records will be forgotten, and kids will start with a fresh slate as they step into their new school for the first day of classes Wednesday, pledged Domus Executive Director Mike Duggan. He welcomed about 30 families in the school’s side yard Thursday over a dinner of cheeseburgers, chips and soda.
The school’s 48 students, in grades 6 to 8, will face a host of new changes, including new school uniforms and an extra-long school day, stretching from 7:15 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Duggan set expectations high for the kids. “We think you’re going to come in and go to college and save the world,” he said. “That’s how we’re going to teach them.”
He laid out expectations for parents, too. In Domus schools, each family is asked to commit 30 hours of service. They make brownies for bake sales and organize graduation ceremonies. If they have demanding work schedules, staff will find a way to work around that: Parents might work from home doing mailings or making phone calls.
Duggan warned parents that the school won’t work if families simply drop their kid off at school and say — “Here, fix him.” Most kids arrive at Domus several grades behind in reading and math. Under the school reform drive, they’ll be expected to get up to speed in five years.
If parents don’t get involved, Duggan cautioned, their children’s performance will go downhill.
He illustrated the point with a hand diving toward the ground. Moms, dads and grandparents got the message. Some even clapped.
Davena Taylor-Royal, who has a son entering the sixth grade, said she’s ready for the challenge. Her son went to ACES in North Haven last year; suffers from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, she said. He got into trouble at Ross/Woodward, a traditional public school with bigger class sizes and less specialized help. Unlike at more traditional schools, she got a head start on the new Domus year in several ways.
Stouffer Bramble, the school’s “problem-solving manager,” and gym teacher Bob Festo (left to right) save a fallen burger from the coals.
Before Thursday’s barbecue — which was itself an early start to the school year — Taylor-Royal had already met her son’s family advocate, of which the school has three. The family advocates are on call around the clock to solve problems that get in the way of learning. If a student is going hungry, gets into a fight in a hallway, or shows up to school in a torn pair of khakis, the family advocates try to find a solution. (Click here to follow a family advocate through a day at a Domus school in Stamford.)
Over the summer, family advocates reached out to all the Domus families. They showed up personally to students’ homes along with the principal. By Thursday, they had tracked down and met with all but six of the 48 students’ families, Duggan said. That outreach — and a strong showing at Thursday’s picnic — leaves the staff in a strong position to start the school year, he reckoned.
Taylor-Royal said her son’s family advocate came to her house in West Rock earlier this summer. They talked about Domus and set goals for the school year.
Ratchford, whose son is entering the 7th grade, met his family advocate at a Dunkin’ Donuts near his home on Woodward Avenue. He said he has high hopes for the school year — and is ready to take part in it. Last year, when Javis was at Urban Youth, he said, he went on all the school trips.
“I participate in everything,” he said.
As he and his son toured the new school building Thursday, he was welcomed many times, by the school’s 14 teachers and staff, to spend time at the school.
Mike McGuire (pictured), Domus Academy’s “director,” aka principal, led Ratchford and Javis through the clean, white hallways of the new school, which will be upstairs from the temporary home of East Rock Global Magnet School. As he walked by the new principal’s office, McGuire grabbed a business card and handed it to Ratchford. “Call me anytime,” he said.
After showing off the gym, McGuire ended the tour with another parental pitch, to come to all the school events, including an end-of-year camping trip.
Ratchford said he’d try to make it if he can get off from work.
Back at the picnic, McGuire broadened his message to the whole crew of Domus parents.
“We are here to service your children, and I mean that, from the beginning of the morning until night,” he said. Some families who had transportation problems were escorted to the event in a Domus minivan.
“We are here to service you as families,” McGuire said, “and I mean serve you!”
“Do you do dishes?” cracked one dad.
“Yes, sir,” McGuire jokingly obliged. If one of the teachers doesn’t do them, he said, “I will do them.”
The school has eight teachers. Four of them are first-year teachers from Teach For America (TFA). The director of curriculum, Richard Cheng, is a 2008 college grad who just completed his two years of TFA at Domus’s Stamford middle school.
In a brief speech, Cheng (pictured) promised parents a small class size. Each classroom will have eight to 12 kids and two adults. He promised an enriching school day: From 3:15 p.m. to 5 p.m., students can get extra help on schoolwork, make art, hit the gym, or work on life skills. And he promised a lot of communication.
Teachers are required to call 10 students’ families each week. Cheng said parents should be hearing from a teacher at least once a week, hopefully with good news.
As he bid goodbye to one mom, he issued a strong invitation: “Come all the time.”
The mom lifted a pair of large sunglasses to show him her eyes.
“This is what I look like,” she said. “I’ll be back.”
Past Independent stories on Domus Academy:
City To Double TFA Hires
Two Failing Schools Aim High
Domus Gets New Domus
Challenges Await “Turnaround” School
Mr. Paul Delivers The Pants
“Turnaround” Work Begins At Urban Youth
Schools Get Graded — & Shaken Up