New Century High School: The Murder of a School Worth Fighting For

This is the story of how our school, with high student achievement, and a Presidential Award for innovation, was destroyed by the organization that created it. Why do the most promising school reform efforts fail? Deborah Meier, founder of the small schools’ movement, has said that small, innovative schools do not die a natural death but are “killed off.”

New Century High School was such a scho

ol in Lacey, Washington. It was murdered by the North Thurston School District that created it. How could a school with tremendous community support and the highest test scores in the District, a Presidential Blue-Ribbon Award, for its innovative, exemplary programs fail to survive in the District that created it? How that happened is the topic of this book. The words of the students, faculty, parents and school and district administrators tell the stories of what sustained New Century’s spirit of innovation despite the micropolitics and unrelenting threats to its existence. The history of what happened to this small school that “once flickered brightly” may be useful to researchers who are studying other small, innovative schools, that are struggling to serve their students. It may extend understandings about how the construction of interests, coalitions, and power, work in the micropolitics of education. To ignore the clash of micropolitical forces would be foolhardy and may result in a conclusion that the reform effort itself is the culprit---that it was just another superficial educational fad. A greater understanding of the interplay of school district and school politics revealed in the story of New Century may inform policy makers about the underworld of micropolitics, which must be considered in the implementation of the change process in educational reform. About the Author
Dr. Gail Covington McBride has had over thirty-five years’ experience in education from teaching to the superintendency. She received her doctorate from Columbia University in Organizational Leadership, and she has presented and written articles on adaptive leadership, school reform, parent engagement and the change process at numerous national and state conferences. Dr. Covington McBride developed an educational game: Me Too Breaking the Silence: Board Game , designed to help teens and schools combat problems of sexual harassment and abuse. Her administrative experience ranges from large to small comprehensive high schools, middle schools, an innovative school of choice, to an international boarding school. She is a world traveler, having had adventures in 36 countries and has worked in Hawaii, Guam, Washington State, Arizona, Papua New Guinea, New Jersey, and Maryland. In her spare time when she is not traveling she runs her small consulting company: CovingtonConsulting.org and participates in border initiatives supporting the health and safety of aspiring immigrants.