Collegial Relationship Pays Off
Secrets of School That Works

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Most of the time, the schools that get attention are the places in which discontent dominates. So does anyone want to hear about a school where the Teachers love their jobs and the Principal loves his Teachers?

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang 'READY FOR IT': Brand new Teacher Christin Alicea (left), said she was not nervous about her first day of teaching at P.S. 83 in The Bronx. She will be working with two mentors and says the school has a supportive atmosphere. 'The Principal and the other Teachers were all really helpful,' she said.

Nestled in the leafy but not-always tranquil Bronx neighborhood of Morris Park, P.S. 83 boasts a racially diverse student body, with 70 percent living in low-income households. It is a safe school, with only a third of the crime experienced at other schools of its size. The math and English test scores are not wildly impressive - about the same as other city schools, although they have been rising. It is for the most part an average school, by city standards. And it openly defies the stereotype of frustrated burnt-out Teachers at odds with their tyrannical Principal. Staff members say that makes all the difference.

'On the Same Page'

"This Principal will call me and say we've got a problem. And it's 'we.' That's an important word," said Paul Egan, the school's United Federation of Teachers district rep. "We don't always agree, but we're on the same page. We're trying to get to the same solution."

When Teachers and administrators noticed that there were gang members coming by the school at dismissal time to recruit the older children, they discussed the problem and decided to station several of the more confident teachers and Assistant Principals at each of the corners surrounding the school. "We're not aggressive; we don't get in their faces," said AP Raymond Granda. "We just say, 'hey, these are our kids, they're good kids, we're just here to protect them.'''

The number of non-criminal incidents requiring Police Department intervention is one quarter of what it is at other schools the same size.

Working Together

Rene Holden is the school's chapter leader and has been teaching for 13 years. She agrees that the collaborative attitude is key, but she says it's also important that the Teachers have a way of communicating amongst themselves to identify problems. The UFT's consultation committee meets with the Principal once a month to discuss issues of concern. "But I meet with members beforehand," said Ms. Holden, "and I set the agenda for the committee. The meeting is real and issues get addressed."

Remarkably, a Teacher about to begin her first year said she was not terribly nervous about her first day. "I feel ready for it," said Christin Alicea, 25. "I started feeling ready after last week with all the professional development. The APs, the Principals, the other Teachers were all really helpful." She was assigned a mentor for special education and every Wednesday a professor from Mercy College will observe her class for 20 minutes and meet with her afterwards to discuss what worked and what didn't. "It doesn't feel intimidating or like I'm being judged," she said. "I feel like people want to be helpful."

A pair of second-grade Teachers were escorting their class from the cafeteria after their first lunch of the school year. They began teaching in a Collaborative Team Teaching classroom last year, in which about 40 percent of the class is special education students. "We love working together," said Deia Capella. "It was an arranged marriage that worked out well. We get a lot of support."

Two Key Elements

Principal Ben Soccodato is an energetic, boisterous man who credits his staff as much as his management style. "You set up a system of communication," he said. "And when you have great Teachers, it works."

Of course, the school is not always filled with harmony, but Mr. Egan said that being able to handle the problems that arise before officials from the Department of Education get involved usually allows for a smoother process. "More often than not, Central causes more problems for us," he said. " So we try to figure it out before it gets there."