Bonsall High focuses on rigor, relevance, relationship

The second year of Bonsall High School is filled with activity. Students in the library review architectural plans for their future school building, while teachers and other students go over new cameras for the yearbook.

Superintendent Justin Cunningham and principal Lee Fleming believe that the high school is truly preparing students for contributing to the community by giving them a problem-solving mindset.

"Students create many public projects that contribute to the community, and then get to present those projects to the public," said Cunningham.

Currently, Bonsall High has only 138 freshman and sophomore students, and is set to gain another 80 to 90 students in the 2016-2017 school year. While the school is small, the school has significantly invested in the new tech model and on relationships.

"Last spring, we had school administrators from South Carolina come to see the struggles of a first year for a school with New Tech, and they randomly picked students to interview," said Cunningham. "When asked why they had picked coming to the school, nearly every student answered that they enjoyed the relationship aspect. They said they have never known a school where they can know everyone, and have a relationship with their teachers."

Fleming, who joined Bonsall High in March after working as an educator and trainer for the New Tech model, believes that the intimacy of a small school is something to be taken advantage of.

"We hope to stay relatively small, so that we can know every child’s name and recognize parents," said Fleming. "We encourage a culture of feeling like part of a family."

Cunningham stated each student is involved in an advisory class, which is an un-graded period when teachers and students are allowed to discuss their class work and daily projects.

"During advisory time, teachers and kids are given the time to talk, which they need, and it develops and creates accountability to peers. You know them, they know you. Students can’t just hide in group projects," said Cunningham.

"If you think of a traditional science fair project, a student does it independently or with a parent," said Fleming. "For us, project-based learning allows for a point of learning before learning. For example, in math, students are graphing a design for the new building using linear quadratic equations, and can actually see on a map how to apply the concepts. When finished, the students will understand at the beginning and end of the project how to help me produce something. This is not a worksheet; this is something external and larger than a classroom."

All of the classes at Bonsall High offer A-G curriculum, so all students have the opportunity to go to college or university if they so choose. Because Bonsall High does not have 11^th grade students, it does not have results from this year’s Smart Balance Testing. However, for the upcoming year, Cunningham stated that the school will emphasize problem-solving as its focus, not necessarily having students prepare for state tests.

"We are confident that if we do extremely well in preparing students for the college board tests, they will do well in state tests," said Cunningham. "We are very confident our scores are going to be good. Solving problems is what students are trained to do in project-based learning. They have to come up with ways to solve issues and explain how they have done so."

The theory behind project-based learning is that by the time a student is a senior, he or she can truly articulate their thought process behind problem-solving.

"Learning is personalized so that students can choose the way they access learning," said Fleming. "We have students in 10^th grade who are very articulate, and can speak to adults. The 9^th grade classes tend to be more supported, but by the time they are seniors, they can chart their own way."

While students might be busy during the school hours, Fleming stated the learning process is balanced.

"Students might say they feel overwhelmed during the day, but they are not overwhelmed at night when they are home," she explained. "Since they have a hands-on project at school, we have a tradeoff with 20 to 30 minutes’ worth of homework if they had a productive day."

Bonsall High administrators are looking for opportunities to let students be highly competitive in the global market.

"As students move into higher grades, we’ll start looking for internship opportunities, or concurrent enrollment in colleges," said Cunningham.

Fleming explained that students are given opportunities in each class to sharpen their problem-solving skills.

"Kids are tackling projects that are meant to have students use their problem-solving skills," said Fleming. "Each of the projects is connected with someone in the community, so it is an authentic scenario. They are being prepared for the future – either college or career – through hands-on, project based learning. Students are actually producing things, using Google Docs, and collaborating on a writing piece with someone else."

Bonsall High has worked with several community partners, such as the California Highway Patrol and the genealogical society.

"The partners send over mentors for the students, and come back and assess the projects," said Fleming.

Because of the school’s small size, Bonsall High has been able to partner with the Khan Academy, and has students take the PSAT to prepare.

"Our 9^th and 10^th graders take the test two times a year, so that by the time they are juniors, they have taken the test four times," said Fleming. "We offer the PSAT to 100 percent of our students, and watch their growth and progress. Because we’re small, I am able to meet one on one with the students to give them a projection for their future."

Currently, Bonsall High offers cross country and volleyball, will offer soccer in the winter, and will offer tennis, golf and track during the spring. In the 2016-2017 school year, Bonsall will offer basketball.

"We currently don’t have sports facilities, but will use Pala facilities and have partnered with Ingold Sports Park," said Fleming.

"We have an opportunity very few districts ever get," said Cunningham. "The State Route 76 is doubling, and we are not going to be able to stop explosive growth as people move into the county for jobs in physics, science and computer science," said Cunningham. "We want to elevate the educational quality for generations. If we provide a high school that’s focused on providing access for STEM opportunities, the people who move here can be prepared to access similar situations. If we are focused on the future, we are always not done."

"When people build a new high school, they tend to copy other high schools and their policies," said Fleming. "We have the opportunity to really build a high school based on what’s happening now, not on policies that were developed 50 years ago."