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

Jay Shepard, representative for the NCHS Parent Advisory Council attempts to reason with the North Thurston School District Board and administration, asking, "what is the problem for which this (closing New Century) is the answer?

More photos!

Hi Gail. I happened upon your book recently and have been in tears most of reading it. New Century was my calm in the storm of my teenage life. My dysfunctional family riddled with substance abuse and mental illness in addition to my struggle with "fitting in" was sometimes more than I could handle and I often planned to end my life before I came to NCHS. Thank you for bringing to light this life-saving school. My hope is that it will bring attention to the possibilities of such a school and encourage other states to explore those options. Today, I am a mother of four (25, 24, 21, 17) with a Master's degree employed by the State of Montana as a Research Analyst. I am proud to say that broke the cycle of abuse and addiction in my family with my children - which I attribute in part to my time at New Century that gave me hope for a future.
Much Love and Light to you Dr. Covington McBride. Keep up the good work!

New Century High School Academic Decathlon winners!

NCHS staff showing their talent.

New video by Gail “Mari” Covington McBride

Click the Knight to see New Century featured on PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer!

NCHS on PBS News Hour

New Century Community, I created this page as a place where you can share your own stories and perhaps post photos about your experience in our amazing school. If you know others who might want to make comments please ask them to like this page.
Gail Covington McBride

Why are school districts intractable to change? 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 school 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.