September 2008 "Good Folks" of the South Mountain Village

Roosevelt School District “New Deal”

“To dream, the impossible dream . . .” as the Man from La Mancha sings in the musical based on Don Quixote (Cervantes classic of Spanish literature). That is what the Roosevelt School District has done over the last year. Some people thought they were tilting at windmills, but by the end of July all of their hard work paid off. According to the 2007-8 AIMS scores, over 90% of the Roosevelt School District’s schools are now labeled performing or performing plus schools by the Arizona Department of Education. Consequently, the Arizona State Board of Education recently decided to let the District control its own destiny going forward into the new school year, rather than to put it into receivership.

At the District’s formal “welcome back” event held on August 1, nearly 750 teachers cheered in unison when the news of Roosevelt’s success was announced. School District Superintendent Mark Dowling commented that “a great weight has been lifted from the shoulders of the staff, teachers, and administrators.” He also noted that “Roosevelt will be the district to watch as we continue to increase student achievement for all of our children. Everyone is genuinely excited about the ‘New Deal’ for the Roosevelt School District.”

So the children and parents in our community were greeted by a lot of ecstatic smiles from staff, teachers, and administrators on the first day back to school. Of course it is just a beginning, but the Roosevelt School District has made a lot of progress. To underscore that point, we want to help them thank a few individuals and organizations for their continued support:

Staff, Teachers and Administrators of the Roosevelt School District, Verna McClain, George Young, Mary Rose and Earl Wilcox, John Loredo, Steve and Dorothy Gluick, Dianne Smith, Dr. Eddie Lewis, Capitoria Lewis, Will and Helen Hill, Dr. Ken Garland, Dan and Cookie Goddard, Mark Messner, Be a Leader Foundation (including Gary and Melissa Trujillo), South Mountain/Laveen Chamber of Commerce, 100 Black Men, Campfire USA, Herman Orcutt and Winslow Orcutt Architectural Services, Ed McClellan and Southwest Behavioral Health, Arizona Education Association (including President John Wright, Vice President Andrew Morrill, and Governmental Affairs Lobbyist Jennifer Daily), Roosevelt Education Association (President Edna Doty), Arizona School Boards Association, and the Governor's Office (including Governor Napolitano and Education Policy Advisor Lauren Kielsmeier).

Moving forward into the new school year we are excited to join the Roosevelt School District’s glorious quest. It is time for the wider community to find out more about Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” and learn the story of the School District’s accomplishments. For example they were one of the few metropolitan Districts to pass a $60 million bond that will provide funding for a new technology center. They were selected by Pearson’s Publishing (a world class organization) to be a pilot developing reading tests. Roosevelt also partners with the nationally renowned John’s Hopkins Center for Data Driven Reform in Education. They are one of only six locations awarded the privilege of hosting Teach For America’s National Summer Teacher Training Institute. Locally, the Roosevelt School District also works with the Arizona State University’s BEST program.

Who knew that shaving basins would make such great helmets, as Don Quixote discovered. Apparently our children had the imagination to do so. The students will continue to thrive academically, and they will be inspired to a lifetime of learning as long as we support them in their “New Deal” with the Roosevelt School District. Therefore, we think it is fitting to conclude where this article started: “And the world, will be better for this, that [the Roosevelt School District and our children] . . . strove . . . To reach, the unreachable star.” (Man from La Mancha)