No Other School Teaches Them To
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Elementary Schools (PK-8) in your area: St. Austin Catholic School Cathedral School of Saint Mary St. Gabriel’s Catholic School St. Helen Catholic School, Georgetown Holy Family Catholic School St. Ignatius, Martyr Catholic School St. Louis Catholic School, Austin St. Theresa’s Catholic School Santa Cruz Catholic School, Buda High Schools in your area: San Juan Diego Catholic High School St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School St. Michael’s Catholic Academy Learn about Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Austin
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40 Austin Woman o c t o b e r 2 0 1 2
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“We understood and knew what the finality of that year meant,” Davis says. “There was a basic understanding that this is one of the things that will uplift the school spirit, and in some small way, maybe us winning basketball games would be the rallying point for not just sports but having some school pride, and maybe seeing that pride manifest on some of the state exams.” Inside the classroom, science teacher Candice Kaiser aggressively pursued her ambitious goal of a 100-percent passing rate for the science TAKS test. At the beginning of the year, she distributed folders to each of her students that contained a breakdown of what areas they needed to work on in order to pass. “I wanted them to know there was this tangible scoring system to the TAKS test, that there was this tangible goal and expectation for them to meet. If I could show them that they were 10 questions away from passing or three questions away from passing, it would be a motivating resource for them,” Kaiser explains. A true nurturer, Kaiser goes above and beyond to meet students’ needs, whether that means giving them rides to practice or mentoring them in a small Bible study gathering that forms at her house off Carver Avenue each Wednesday night. Instead of saying, “class dismissed,” or simply letting her students go at the sound of the bell, her parting words to them are always, “I love you all.” “The tone and the language that you use can really develop a relationship. Based on that relationship, you evoke trust. Because of that trust, they believe you really do care about them,” Kaiser says. “Some of my kids are definitely loved at home and come from families that are very tight-knit, but then I also have a lot of students who you can tell have behavior issues because there’s something
lacking in the way they’re treated and communicated with at home.” Even though Garza’s spitfire nature, Davis’ dedication and Kaiser’s love certainly make for an inspirational story, Saving the School is perhaps one of the most important commentaries on public education policy to date. Author Brick spent the year at Reagan watching, waiting and holding his breath, along with the hundreds of students whose fates hinged upon their test scores. When he walked onto campus back in 2009, the school’s proud history seemed like it was just a memory. “It was a tense place,” Brick remembers. “It still looked like a neglected place people could legitimately find scary, but at that point, Anabel had been on the job one year and was just starting her second. There was the sense that something was about to change.” Brick humbly admits that although he’s the storyteller, the success belongs to the teachers and administrators who made it all happen, and, of course, to Anabel Garza. “She recognized that [raising test scores] wasn’t going to save the school in any meaningful or sustainable fashion in the long term, so she set out to make the school a place that people would want to go again, and give kids a reason to want to be there,” he says. “At the same time, and this is where things go above and beyond what educators are called on to do in this country, she tried to reach in to the lives of these kids and their families.” Reagan isn’t the only school in the United States that suffered from these kinds of problems, and it certainly won’t be the last. While the debate surrounding public education still burns red hot, the incredible story of the Reagan Raiders—who remain true to their motto, “Not Without Honor”—shows us there’s hope yet. Principal Anabel Garza
See Michael Brick, author of Saving the School at the Texas Book Festival, which takes place at the Texas State Capitol Oct. 27 and 28. Details about the festival can be found at texasbookfestival.org. To read more about Brick and Saving the School, visit savingtheschool.com.