City High School, a charter school in downtown Tucson, has merged with its long-time collaborator, Paulo Freire Freedom Schools.
On July 1, the City Center for Collaborative Learning, formerly known as the Tucson Small Schools Project, became the official charter for City High School and the Paulo Freire schools, located downtown and near the University of Arizona. Both Paulo Freire campuses serve sixth through eighth grades.
The schools were already closely connected before, said Carrie Brennan, executive director for the new center. Paulo Freireโs downtown school shared spaces with City High. The official partnership solidifies their shared goal to influence the educational landscape by showcasing the effectiveness of smaller learning communities, she said.
Together, the three schools have about 340 students, with City High having the highest number at about 180, Brennan said.
โItโs not just about the logistics and sharing a back office,โ she said.
โSmall-school models are very powerful, but the size can be challenging to sustain, so itโs important to come together for the long-term sustainability of the schools.โ
The Tucson Small School Project, a nonprofit educational organization that was the charter holder for City High, went through an extensive rebranding campaign in Spring 2015, creating the stepping stone for the merger, she said.
Santo Nicotera, a co-founder of Paulo Freire Freedom Schools, said the partnership boosts his schoolsโ capacity to demonstrate best practices in project-based learning.
โOur capacity to get the word out and provide professional development to other schools, educators and districts was really small,โ he said.
Paulo Freireโs downtown school is a science, technology, engineering and math immersion school, he said. Those fields are incorporated in every subject through project-based learning.
Its university-area school focuses on environmental sustainability and social justice. City High School provides placed-base learning, where the whole city is the center of the studentsโ learning activities.
With the three schools combining forces, they could more easily demonstrate how project-based learning can have a positive impact on education, he said.
For the downtown area, the partnership of the three schools means a positive step toward retaining young people, said Michael Keith, CEO of the Downtown Tucson Partnership.
โWhat weโre looking for here is a diversity of education options,โ he said. There are good public schools in the area, but itโs also important that parents have an opportunity to choose a school that fits their needs, he said.
