Local school gets another chance

Thomas Edison Elementary is the smallest school in the San Juan Unified School District but has the biggest problems.

Yet that didn't stop Todd Lindeman from applying for the job of principal at the Arden Arcade area school.

"For me, the opportunity to go back to Edison was making a full circle. My roots in teaching are at Edison. It is exciting," said Lindeman, who starts his first full school year in the fall.

He was named principal in January, two months after San Juan was considering closing the school because of financial and academic shortfalls brought on by declining enrollment.

Since funding is dependent upon enrollment, Edison is impoverished. At last count, there were 332 students. Of the district's 43 elementary schools, four have fewer than 400 students.

Standardized tests show no more than one-fourth of the Edison students at any grade level are competent in English. Only 12 percent of second-graders tested well enough in English to be considered proficient, according to 2007 results.

Math scores are better, but not enough to boost Edison's standing among other schools. It is in the lowest 10 percent statewide, even when compared to schools with similar enrollment and demographics.

But Edison has been given a reprieve, at least for the time being, leaving Lindeman with his work cut out for him.

Lindeman came to Edison from Dyer-Kelly and Skycrest elementary schools, where he was vice principal at each campus for about two years.

Those schools also had low scores and challenges that are similar to Edison, Lindeman said.

"If we are going to improve the academics of the school, it is going to take the students, the parents and the community working together to make the difference," he said.

It was at Dyer-Kelly that Lindeman and others came up with a community collaborative to focus on improving problems.

Representatives from Dyer-Kelly, the school district, the park district, county neighborhood services and housing redevelopment held regular meetings to brainstorm solutions.

"I felt some good came of it," Lindeman said of the meetings that spanned a year and a half.

Activities for students after school increased, and uniformed volunteer crossing guards improved student safety at Dyer-Kelly, he said.

At Edison, the 37-year-old principal has marshaled a similar but beefed up plan with a strike force and a strategy.

"We did a test run in May. It is really coming together," Lindeman said of a tutoring club, comprising about 50 volunteers from a local church and area Rotary Club members.

The strategy is to focus on what Lindeman calls absolutes as targets for each grade level.

In kindergarten, for example, he wants students to be able to know the letters of the alphabet and count to at least 30. For fifth-graders, he expects each student to know the Latin prefixes and suffixes of words.

The tutors will work with students at the school when they are not in their regular classes.

"This is going to help our school and our scores will improve," Lindeman predicted.

Lindeman also wants to increase sports activities.

During his nine years as a teacher at Edison, Lindeman said he was also a basketball coach.

"That is where you build relationships. Some parents are not comfortable at school," he said of sports activities.

Lindeman has involved Edison with Junior Giants, a special program run by the San Francisco Giants. In April and May, baseball gloves, bats, uniforms and even a pitching machine were provided to the school for free.

A parents center has been set up with Internet access so they can help their children in school projects.

After school, Edison teachers will visit student homes to get to know the parents better.

"This year, the No. 1 goal is to build relationships between the school and the parents," he said.

The objective is to have a team approach at improving student performances, he said.

Another goal is to increase ties with the area's business community.

The Arden Arcade Business Council has agreed to provide speakers to to tell students about various business careers.

As incentive for punctual attendance, more than a dozen new bicycles were given to students during the last round of standardized testing. The bikes were handed out in a drawing in time for a review held before the test.

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