Close to Home: Opportunity to provide opportunities

From 2002 through 2010, I served on the Sonoma County Board of Education. One of the many duties of that board is to receive and examine various data about the county’s school districts. While much of this is mundane and finance-related, the most interesting to me was information about student performance.

It was through such reviews that something unexpected was revealed. One high school, then brand new, was significantly outperforming all of the rest: it was consistently in the top two in improvement in student learning, first in percentage of students matriculating to college and the best with regard to drop-out rate (which, according to the latest state data is 1.1 percent). And this school was located where you would least expect it - in Roseland, in southwest Santa Rosa, the most underserved area in Sonoma County.

Intrigued by this unlikely phenomenon, I paid a visit to the then-Roseland School District Superintendent Gail Ahlas. She took me to the high school, Roseland University Prep, for a thorough tour with Principal Amy Jones-Kerr. I was mightily impressed at that initial visit in 2007, and I remain impressed with each visit I make. In part, it is because it is clear that the kids enjoy being there. Just about all of them are Latino and have attended Roseland schools their entire lives. In part, it is the attitude of the teaching and other staff. Because the school is small (total current enrollment is 454), all school employees seem to know every student . And in part, it is because the facility within which the school is housed is most unlikely, but the determined staff have figured out how to make it work.

This facility is located in a renovated warehouse. There is a small physical education area; there is no track, so the students have substituted running the circumference of the parking lot. While the classrooms have proven minimally adequate, the building in general is not well suited as a high school. In fact, a couple of the classrooms did not survive a recent fire marshal inspection, and this has resulted in some crowding of other areas. Clearly, this is not the right place to house Roseland University Prep.

So, in 2009, the superintendent began the process of obtaining a proper facility. A place was made available on land owned by the district, and a state-approved building plan was developed. Most of the funding for the construction has been obtained from the state ($14 million of a total construction cost of $16 million). Ahlas retired last June but has been retained by the district to work with Jones-Kerr, the current superintendent, to complete the facility project. Right now that means finding the remaining funds to complete a basic building. About $650,000 remains to be raised so construction can commence on the needed number of classrooms. Another approximately $600,000 will be needed to fully outfit the building with computers, shelving and so forth.

I am contributing to this effort. It is not often that one can assist in such a direct manner to help young people obtain opportunities that they thought were not within reach. It is an investment in a proven organization. If you would like to visit Roseland University Prep or learn more about the new facility, you can reach Ahlas at ?ggandrade.ahlas@roseland?sd.org. I urge you to do so.

David B. Wolf of Santa Rosa is a former vice president of Santa Rosa Junior College and a former member of the county Board of Education.