(now known as Harold Washington College), DePaul University and University of Chicago. By the time Metro was moved to 160 W. Wendell, only a small percentage of students actually took any kind of ancillary classes. Since we had no gym, a number of students arranged to take some kind of physical education at outside institutions such as the Y. This last location was three miles from the center of the city, which made travel time to the ever dwindling ancillary offerings too excessive. The loss of ancillary classes also meant that class size in regular classes increased.
EVALUATIONS & REGISTRATION In a May 1975 article in the Phi Delta Kappa, Mary Frances Crabtree described Metro: “Its curriculum is the city, its learning laboratory is the community, and its lesson is freedom, choice, responsibility.” That is a good framework from which to view Metro. Metro existed at a particular time and place in history and probably could not be replicated in the twenty-first century. However, as in all school reforms, some
of our programs, approaches, and other strengths survived in different forms in other high schools. Our mantra in those early days was that we were teaching students to “take responsibility for their own education.” Of course, this was to be coupled with a good deal of mentoring, supporting and prodding. Our procedures for grading and choosing classes perhaps helped students to practice taking that responsibility. Instead of grades just being posted in a report book, students met with their teachers at the end of each cycle to discuss their progress. Several days were set aside for this process, to allow time for students and teachers to meet and talk. Teachers then filled out an evaluation form that described the course and what the student had accomplished. A student could be given “credit,” “no credit” or “incomplete.” If a student received an incomplete, he or she had one cycle (ten weeks) to make up the required work. For some, this helped to keep them on course and made it possible for them to pass classes they might not have completed otherwise. For others, it was a euphemism for “no credit,” as they never got around to completing the required work. As a teacher, I found this a wonderful way to actually work with students, to help them take responsibility and learn to evaluate honestly what they had accomplished and
Metro High School, 1971–1991 17