School’s Not So Out

 RICH: Welcome to RVA’s Got Issues, a podcast about politics and public affairs in and around Richmond, Virginia. I’m your host, Rich Marr.  On this episode, RVA’s Got Issues with year-round schools.  The pandemic may technically be over, but students are still suffering the aftereffects, especially in schools that are already struggling. Thanks We’ll talk about a grand experiment to try to help kids in select RPS schools by changing the school calendar.

 

MOS 1:  I will be honest with you. If the kids go to school a whole year around, I’m happy for it. That’d be a bless, you know what I’m saying, because a lot of kids need more knowledge to see where they can go in life,  

 

RICH:  then, RVA’s got questions about sports. What would it take for Richmond to get a major league sports team? Finally, for our community spotlight, we’ll talk with Susan Massey of the Richmond Ballet. According to Susan, ballet is for everyone. All that coming up on RVA’s Got Issues.

 

 

RICH: On this episode, RVA’s Got Issues with year-round schools. The City of Richmond’s public school system faced enormous challenges during the pandemic and are still facing problems of truancy and learning loss. Now the city is asking, can more class time help these students catch up? Two elementary schools in Richmond tested the idea last year by adding 20 days to their calendar. The plan is called RPS 200 for 200 school days, and initial data suggests promising, although mixed, results. With two more schools joining the pilot program this upcoming year, we want to understand how the program is working. To help us, I’m joined by Taikein Cooper. He’s the Executive Director of the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation, a non profit group that raises funds to support initiatives in the city’s public school system. Taikein, welcome.

 

TAIKEIN: Thanks so much for having me.

 

RICH: So let’s start here. What exactly is RPS 200? So basically

 

TAIKEIN: So RPS 200 was honestly one of the tools that we use in a toolbox as a response to the impact of COVID, right? The learning laws,  social emotional,  issues,  chronic absenteeism. Those were kind of the three big buckets. During that time, the RPS school board explored, a year round calendar and ultimately they decided not to proceed with that model. And, spring of 2023, they decided to proceed with RPS 200, which it’s a 200 day calendar. Everything but the first day of school remains the same as the traditional calendar. So these students return July of 2023. And the school year ended May 31st of this

 

RICH: So you end the same time, you just start a lot earlier.

 

TAIKEIN: Start four weeks earlier.

 

RICH: What did the 20 days do though? Is that really going to be specifically about the learning loss, right? More time in class to help learn more things that maybe you, you, you missed during the pandemic.

 

TAIKEIN: So with this model, teachers have complete autonomy over what to do with the additional 20 days. So some teachers use this remediation time. Some teachers just extended the new content over the 20 additional days. Like you can say any math concept, for example, instead of learning, maybe in one week, maybe they have a week and a half now. And then schools also tried to build in some of the things that  we’ve lost in schools with testing, um, you know, some of the outside programming and field trips and

 

RICH: Right, and projects, things that you do if you’re just kind of racing to, to get   school board approved this, this  What brings you to this work, 

 

TAIKEIN: you know, candidly,  I grew up in a low income housing community myself. Um, and I think that education was definitely one of those keys that open has opened many doors for me. And, you know, I see my role as an opportunity to kind of,  you know, as cliche as it is, but like how can I leverage the social capital that I have to spread it around to. To other people who may not have it yet. I’m

 

RICH: So, how did schools specifically join this? We had two schools do it this year. We have two more jumping on board for the upcoming school year. Um, so how were these schools selected?

 

TAIKEIN: They very much opt in and then there’s a process starts with community engagement where community members, um, of the schools, so like parents are surveyed first and then the staff of the school, they are surveyed. And once you have,  all of those surveys and that data, then they begin the process of,  evaluating if they are a great fit, the school board does. So once school board approved this,  model, this palette, We went out and started pitching it  to partners, both locally and nationally, and said, hey, like, we’re one of less than five school districts in the country  that students will be in school for 200 days. And so our job was really to help pay for it. And so year one, was funded through the American Rescue Plan. And so year two,  we have a, pretty significant investment from a national foundation to support this, but it costs about 1. 7 million per school for the additional 20 days. Because, employees receive signing bonuses. 10 month employees become 11 month employees. So it’s a 10 percent salary increase and there are some performance bonuses on the back end as well.

 

RICH: So let’s talk about that. I imagine the extra compensation helps, right? But these changes can be a big adjustment for, Not just those teachers, right? But the students and the parents. And I know you can get community buy in, but still everyone in America is still used to this kind of model where summers are off, CUE MUSIC]

 

MOS 2: so I’m used to starting school in September, right? So the kids started school in July is a little too early because it don’t, it don’t give the parents enough time to really. Get the things they need for their kids like clothes and shoes and school supplies and like it really put a Lot of pressure on the parents.

 

[ MUSIC FADES]

 

TAIKEIN: about Well I think the first  that anyone who wanted to transfer from these schools could be transferred  if it’s a student or an employee. you really want to opt out and you’re like, I’m totally against this doesn’t work for me or my family. You can opt out. And we’ve had very, very few people opt out on the employment side as well as students.  And then, you know, we talk about the population of the, the two existing schools in the pallet. Fairfield Court Elementary School is 97 percent economically disadvantaged. And then Cardinal Elementary is almost 80 percent English language learners.  And so, a lot of these students, they didn’t have a lot of resources and opportunities for the summer. And so, You know, this is something different and so I think it takes time for people to get used to it, but ultimately I think it was, we had to do what was best for kids, and I’m really excited that um RPS the administration and School Board took this step so I have a theory and like

 

RICH: So Court, it is in the East End. As you said, almost all of the students  are considered disadvantaged,  by federal guidelines, right? That means low income. Um, can you tell us a little bit, kind of paint a picture for, for the students? What those students are facing

 

TAIKEIN: Think one of the things that we’ve accepted in this country is that if you are low income, you can’t learn, and I just don’t believe that. I think that we just have to change our approach, and I’m, I’m really excited with the progress we’ve seen at Fairfield core, but. More important than just like 20 additional days, Fairfield Court really built this ecosystem and built this culture of  this is a community. And so, they had additional wraparound services and we also really embraced a culture of reading. That not only talks about like, learning the words and the letters and the sounds, but really understanding how the brain works and how it learns and, Fairfield Court, their reading scores increased 20 percent this year.

 

RICH: So that’s impressive.  But to go back to the, the what’s going on in Fairfield court, like you said, that you think that there’s this assumption, right, that low income kids can’t learn, like it’s something wrong with them. But more often than not, what we’re seeing are the sort of external factors that interfere. Like basic access to food, right? Or they’re going hungry in the morning, right? Or they have

 

TAIKEIN: they have challenges. Housing instability, um, or housing insecurity, community violence.  I mean in just talking about food for example, these are 20 additional days that kids will get at least two meals. Those are positive things. 

 

[ CUE MUSIC]

 

MOS 3: They’re not running around doing anything. They’re in a productive setting, they have breakfast and lunch, they get, some of them get dinner sent home with them, and you know where your child is. You know, a lot of people, especially the two schools that have a lot of public housing Children, you don’t see greatness, but this is where the base is to have the greatness to have our high school seniors able to get scholarships. It starts with the elementary schools. So I like it. It gonna take a lot to get used to, but it’s for the safety and for the health of the Children

 

[ FADE MUSIC]

 

RICH: So you mentioned that the reading scores were up at Fairfield.  What else have we learned from the first year of this program?

 

TAIKEIN: Chronic absenteeism is down.  And so chronic absenteeism is defined as a student missing 10 percent or more of the school year. So when we first returned to school, fairfield Court was above 40%.   And this year Fairfield Court will be below 20.

 

RICH: So a definite decrease there. So I guess the question then is how do you evaluate like the different pieces of the program, right? If, as you’re thinking that we’re piloting some of this stuff in Fairfield and Cardinal and now expanding like RPS 200 to other schools, how do we know sort of what’s a good fit for other schools or what should go district wide as opposed to what is working for particular schools that might face these challenges?

 

TAIKEIN: so we’re kind of evaluating all of those different components right now.  Every school is different, the culture of Fairfield Court is a little different than the culture of Cardinal.  And, you know, I think part of that’s just because of language barrier. But some of the things that we saw at Fairfield, we didn’t see at Cardinal and vice versa. And so this is why we continue the pilot and this is why, honestly, it’s still a pilot.

 

RICH: Yeah, so we had heard a little bit from the principal of Cardinal   Dr. Juvenal Menezes

 

RICH: um, from his experience, it seemed like the extra days, might be leading to a little more burnout among teachers, feeling a little more physically challenged.  uh, he’s seen an increase in students acting out, at least from his perspective, and so he’s a little worried about the effects of the extended school year, and a little more on the fence about this program, he’s really interested to see how it goes next year, what would you say to him, or anyone who’s skeptical of the new calendar,

 

TAIKEIN: I mean, I think if you were in school 180 days or 200 days, behavior changes in the spring. Teachers are tired. It’s the end of the school year. Um, you know, I’m a country boy myself. People always talk about when the SAP is rising and, you know, student behavior changes. And so I think these things are cyclical in an academic year, irrespective of when they start and when they end. And this was year one. There are some things that I hope will be different this year. Um, but I’m in no means saying that this is definitive and this is the way that has to continue.

 

RICH: We’re talking with Tykeen Cooper, the Executive Director of the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation. We’ll hear more about the longstanding problems RPS 200 is trying to solve when we come back on RVA’s Got Issues. 

 

BREAK

 

RICH: This is RVA’s Got Issues. We’re back with Taikein Cooper of the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation. So Taikein, RPS 200 is about meeting these post pandemic challenges, as you said. But the obstacles that the schools were working with, that RPS faces, that a lot of public schools face, there’s a long history to this, right? Particularly related to segregation. I mean, you have some personal experience with this history, right? You grew up in. In Farmville.

 

TAIKEIN: Prince Edward County. Absolutely. Yes.

 

RICH: And what, what was your experience, growing up there? What did you learn? I mean, where would you like to start? Um, the short version of it is I was 11. My mother to this day runs a low income housing community. So I was in our office early summer, and a gentleman came in and my mom was busy with another client and he said, Hey, nephew, will you read this form for me? I left my glasses in my apartment, so I read it to him. And that evening when we left, I remember asking my mom, I said, Mr. Such and such, he can’t read candy. And she told me that he couldn’t.   And I remember asking her why, and she said, you know, I think that’d be a great summer project for you. And so I spent my summer in the library at Longwood kind of studying and learning all about.  the closing of the schools in Prince Edward County. In 1959, the board of supervisors voted not to fund a desegregated public school. And we didn’t have public education from 59 until 64. And so, Growing up in that community and seeing the intergenerational impact of flawed policy,  I’ve always been like super interested in the intersections of like justice, education, and policy.

 

RICH:Yeah, I mean, think one of the big ways we

 

TAIKEIN: Yeah, I mean, I think one of the big ways we see it is through P. T. A. S.  P. T. A. S. On the west end of the city are flush with cash. And, um, are and then the east end and south side of the city, a lot of those schools don’t even have P. T. A. S.  And, you know, if a teacher at one school that doesn’t have a P.T. A. If they say, Hey, like, I’d really, really like to take my kids on the field trip  if they don’t have a P. T. A.  They really kind of struggle with the finance, especially if there’s a school, there’s a high percentage of students economically disadvantaged,

 

RICH: we’re also seeing it like in the discrepancies then with the infrastructure, like schools that are better resourced, often have better facilities, increased for those students as well. immense history, right, behind these schools and the problems that they face, the challenges that, that RPS schools face. RPS 200 can’t be the magic bullet that solves everything, right? So what else do we have? What else is, as you said, the tools in the toolbox?

 

TAIKEIN: You know, one of the things that superintendent shared in a few of the,  community engagement meetings around the new strategic plan dreams for RPS 0 is like, what would it look like if we had these, being based high schools where,  kids are basically selecting that they’re going to go to a school. So what would it look like if we had X school of. Global affairs where kids learn two foreign languages  and they are working on,  like peace, world and defense courses. And, you know, they still have  their current curriculum, but really reimagining what high school looks like here.Yes.

 

RICH: would we know that it’s working?

 

TAIKEIN: You know, I think continued improvement in reading scores, at the elementary schools,  will be one thing. Also like the impact that this is having on families like if parents say, Hey, like this eases burden on me because I don’t have to find childcare for my child. You know, I’m hopeful that we will see a decrease in community balance and like, no, I’m not saying in any way that RPS 200 alone is decreasing community balance. But. I think when we turn the temperature down on, like, stress and some of those other issues that we see in the community, we’ll see benefits all

 

RICH: And what is the kind of timeline for decision making on this program? So clearly we’ve got the pilot that went last year, extending in another year and doubling the number of schools. So before schools this year, when does the board decide what happens the following year?

 

TAIKEIN: Yeah, so currently it’s very much year to year.  But school board usually makes these decisions in the spring. Of course, this will be a different school board because all non members are up for the election this year.  But I’m hopeful that they’ll make a decision on extending the pilot sooner than

 

RICH: So what can listeners do to help?

 

TAIKEIN: You know, I would love to hear  more stories from folks who are talking about the impact the RPS 200 is having on them. And you know, I think the other thing is, tell us if there’s something that you might be interested  in your community.  And by all means, I’m happy to go anywhere and talk to anyone. So if there’s a group of folks who, and not just folks who may say, I love RPS 200, it might be folks who are saying, Hey, I’m a little skeptical. I’m happy to come have a conversation with folks individually or as a group.

 

RICH: They want to partner in that way as well.

 

TAIKEIN: Thanks Rich.  

 

 

RICH:  On each episode of RVA’s Got Issues, we’ll answer a question from listeners like you. Something you want or need to know about your government or community. On this episode, RVA’s got questions about sports ball. Amber Coles, our producer, is back to help us with this question. Hi, Amber.

 

AMBER: Hi, Rich.

 

RICH: So what do you got for us?

 

AMBER: so on this episode we have a question from Chris, from Richmond. He says What is the history of major sports teams in Richmond? Have we ever been close to getting a major franchise and what  would need to happen population wise and which league is most likely to take a chance?

 

RICH: Good questions. I mean, Richmond is in many ways a sports town, but the closest we have to a major league team is the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

 

AMBER: and Natasha. 

 

RICH: Yeah, so you’ve been to Flying Squirrels games, I take it. Yeah, I’ve been to a few myself. It’s the AA minor league team for the San Francisco Giants, so they’re connected to a big league team. But they’re a minor league team. They’ve been at the diamond in Richmond for about a decade. Before that, uh, the Richmond Braves from Atlanta were, uh, connected here, uh, 40 years there. And then we had the Virginians, which was a Yankees affiliate. They were there for another 10 years before that. And we’ve also had some short lived pro hockey arena football teams. The Robins, the Raiders, the Rifles, the Riverdogs, the Renegades.

 

AMBER: seeing a pat we’re just doing R’s? Yeah, that’s

 

RICH: it worked. But all of those were very short lived. Only for a few years. Very minor leagues. By Major League, I’m betting that Chris, who asked this question, is thinking about NFL football, NBA basketball, MLB baseball, or the NHL hockey, and all of that seems unlikely, I’m sorry to say. It’s just a size issue.

 

AMBER: is funny to say because like we think of ourselves as kind of like a mid market mid size but we are, we are really just too small, we don’t have anywhere for the team to go.

 

RICH: and it’s also just the way that sports teams work now. Leagues want a big metro area, and more important than people is a big TV market. Uh, TV rights are really important. Richmond is like the 56th TV market in the country. It’s very unlikely for either a new or relocating team.

 

AMBER: a relocated team. Well, I mean,

 

RICH: Well, I mean, the squirrels, as you said, you know, you can have a fun time at the squirrels. There’s also soccer, right? We’re a big soccer town. The Kickers is a lower division, you know, kind of pro soccer team, but they have a devoted fan base. The Red Army. You can go to their games and learn the chants if you want to. Maybe cover some of the little kid’s ears. Uh, and we just started a women’s team. The Richmond Ivy just started this year. And there’s other groups around town. There’s a Richmond Black Widows, which is a semi pro women’s tackle football league.

 

AMBER: Oh, that’s interesting.

 

RICH: they play at some local high schools. So you can get your sports fix, Chris. You just can’t get it while paying major league prices.

 

AMBER: To not break the bank and still get good sports is actually like right on the

 

RICH: Yeah, some people actually like it better. So Amber, what should listeners do if they have a question like Chris about their local government What can they

 

AMBER: we’ve been loving these questions, so if you have more, listeners can go to our website at rvasgotissues.vpm. org and click on the ask a question button.

 

RICH: Great. Thanks, Amber.

 

AMBER: Thanks Rich.

 

 

RICH: Finally, on this episode, we’re shining our community spotlight on Susan Israel Massey. She’s been on the faculty at the school of Richmond ballet for over 30 years. She studied dance in America and Europe. Her teaching and performance career runs from the university of Utah to right here at VCU in Henrico County. Welcome Susan.

 

SUSAN: Thank you. Happy to be here.

 

RICH: You teach a pretty unique intro ballet class for adults like true beginners like right off the street So let’s say I’m a beginner and I come to this class for the first time. What am I going to experience?

 

SUSAN: Well, right off, I try to make everybody feel welcome, learn their names, um, tell them where to put their things, uh, look at their shoes and what they’re wearing, and usually I can say, you just look fine, and this is gonna work just beautifully. they are probably concerned that other people are going to be watching them and they’re a little bit intimidated about being in clothes that show their bodies and  That’s new to a lot of people. I’ll let them wear Whatever they’re comfortable in that first time. And, um, I tell them nobody’s really interested in them except the teacher.

 

 

 

RICH: Where did the idea for this class come from

 

SUSAN: Well, the School of the Richmond Ballet has always had adult classes, and we had three levels, I noticed that the one level wasn’t feeding in to two and three. We weren’t drawing beginner adults, and I didn’t know why. And I started asking questions and hearing from people And it was because they were overwhelmed with ballet and kind of intimidated by it. So I decided to design a class that would be an introduction for people who were interested all ages. and had never had ballet before and. I think we’re heading into our 13th year, and people want, want it as exercise or  for a number of reasons,

 

RICH:yeah, what what kind of reasons like what do you learn about the people who come into the class?

 

SUSAN: They come for therapy from all kinds of injuries maybe, or, uh, they come because it was a passion, something on their bucket list from being a child deprived of ballet lessons and now they want to do it because they’re an adult and they can do what they want. I have a truck driver that takes my class.  He, tells me that it calms him before he drives, long sessions, he’ll come and he’ll say, Mrs. Massey, I’m going to have to leave a little early today because I have to drive to Houston, but I wanted to get my ballet bar before I get on that long drive. And it’s just a hoot.

 

RICH: So one of the first things you tell students in your class is that there’s nothing natural about ballet. I don’t think people really think about the roots of ballet.  My daughter dances, she loves ballet.  We’ve never had a conversation about what it is, like where it comes from. 

 

SUSAN: It comes from Louis XIV’s court. So it’s about 500 plus years old. And he, wanted his courtiers to perform better, to be stronger, to be better coordinated. Their posture was lousy. They would have to bow to him. Well, they were falling over and just causing all kinds of, um, embarrassment to the king. And so he, just told one of his courtiers,  to come up with a session of court. calisthenics that they could all do at the beginning of the day.  And so it started with the idea of fencing. Fourth position, second position. On the balls of your feet.

 

RICH: Right.

 

SUSAN: Better in the court. Better on the battlefield.

 

RICH: And all the French terms, the

 

SUSAN: yeah, French terms.

 

RICH: et cetera. Yeah. I’m guessing you didn’t grow up in the French royal court.  So what drew you to ballet?

 

SUSAN: What drew me was a movie called The Red Shoes.  And every little girl in my little town and their parents went on Friday night when it opened.   It was a story about ballet dancers, real ballet dancers. And I said, I want to do that.  And so it took about a year and my mother found a very good teacher to come to our little town and we started.

 

RICH: let’s go back to that adult class you told us a little bit about the, the kinds of folks who go in there.  What do people learn? What do they come out of that class knowing about

 

SUSAN: Well, I hope that they come out with   just a basic rudimentary understanding so that they can go into any class mine or somebody else’s and understand what they’re talking

 

RICH: Yeah, don’t you provide like  a little glossary

 

SUSAN: I do. Three pages of basic knowledge.

 

SUSAN: what to wear, why you wear that, the etiquette.

 

RICH: yeah, and you say that you witness victories all the

 

SUSAN: I do. It usually happens when people are learning how to pirouette.  Turn.  It’s a slow process. You have to mount your leg and pull in and the timing of that and the timing of turning your head, has to be just right and there’s a lot of other things that go into turning.   And then one day, maybe two months down the road or two years down the road, that student suddenly does a pirouette, pulls it all together, everything works.  That’s always a victory. Do you have any advice for our listeners who might be interested in ballet or interested in your class? It’s never too late to start. I’ve had people come in their 70s and start.  My oldest right now, and she’s been training for a long time, and this is not new to her, but she’s 88, and she moves beautifully.  So I think that it’s one of those secrets to longevity, is to be able to move your body and it’s a happy way of moving.  And um, you just feel good about yourself. I think it’s a self image, self awareness growth that’s good for everybody.  So, I don’t see any downside to it.  I think if people moved more and continued to move more through their life, they would do well. I, I visit my friend who is a hundred and four. She’s a modern dancer, Frances Wessels.  She’s a big name in this town. She started modern dance at the University of Richmond and at VCU. I taught with her.  She will tell you, keep moving. She’s 104 and still moving. Mm

 

RICH: Susan Israel Massey teaches at the School of Richmond Ballet. Thank you, Susan.

 

 

RICH: That’s our show. Thanks to our guests, Tykeen Cooper and Susan Massey.  RVA’s got issues, but we need you to tell us what those issues are. Submit a question or tell us about something exciting going on in your community. At our website, RVAs got issues.vpm.org. Join us next time when RVAs got issues with, well, if you want to know, subscribe to us wherever you download podcasts. While you’re at it, tell a friend about us. Share a social media post, or even leave a review on your favorite podcasting platform. Let’s get everyone in RVA listening.  RVA’s Got Issues is produced by Max Wasserman and Amber Coles and edited by Steve Lack. Our theme music was composed by Alexander Hitchens. Meg Lindholm is our executive producer. Steve Humble is VPM’s chief content officer. I’m your host, Rich Marr. Thanks for listening.