CK Manifesto
Look around. See these streets, these neighborhoods? This is southwest Little Rock.
It’s blue-collar here. Working class. Mostly African-American. If you want a country club then you’ll have to look elsewhere.
See that building over there? The grey two-story? That’s 8300 Geyer Springs Road. It’s a school – Covenant Keepers College Preparatory School. It’s a place where the future is born every day.
It started as a dream. Dr. Valerie Tatum, a longtime educator in this part of town, saw a need to help students who were underserved and perhaps even forgotten. She saw the potential of the people here. She knew that with hard work and fierce determination, a top-quality education – one that would lead straight to college – could be attainable for anyone in this community.
So she made a covenant.
A covenant?
Yep.
She made a covenant with the families and students of southwest Little Rock that she would give them a charter school in their community – in their own backyard – that would truly leave no child behind.
It took years. Dreams need time to develop, to grow into reality. And they take a lot of effort, planning, starting over.
Sure, there were hurdles along the way, but that’s life isn’t it? Dr. Tatum was going to keep her covenant.
In August, 2008 Covenant Keepers was born.
That grey building has 15 classrooms. There are just under 240 students coming in and out of those classrooms every school day. Outside of the building, dressed in their uniforms – emblazoned with the school’s logo and the words “A Place Where Eagles S.O.A.R.” – they laugh and play and tease and joke.
And inside, they learn. These are long days. Classes start at 7:45 a.m. and the school day ends at 5 p.m. It’s a strict environment, where troublemaking and disruption are not tolerated.
The teachers work just as hard. Their focus is the classroom and the achievement of their students. The administration at Covenant Keepers is comprised of educators, not business people. Not politicians. They work with the teachers to constantly adapt and improve the learning environment for the students. It’s a fluid environment, with the administration giving teachers the power to implement new ideas in the classroom.
A lot is expected of students at Covenant Keepers. Are classes rigorous? Of course they are, but there is more to rigor than a complex algebra problem.
Rigor means holding students to a higher standard. If that English assignment isn’t turned in on time, the student’s parent is notified posthaste. If a student is falling behind, that student is quickly placed in the Extended Learning Opportunity program, which gives him extra time and one-on-one interface with a teacher to work on problem areas.
What does this mean? It means that a student won’t slip through the cracks, won’t get passed along, won’t be left behind.
And who are these students?
They are the subgroups, which is data-speak for the poor, the non-white, the English Language Learners. They are the special-needs students. Some have behavior problems when they first arrive.
And they are the children of parents and guardians who want a better future for them; parents and guardians who are tired of their kids languishing in the achievement gap.
Many have come to Covenant Keepers with ACTAAP scores among the lowest of the low.
It’s Covenant Keepers’ job to get those scores out of the basement.
These things don’t happen overnight. It will take time to get all students to the level required by the State.
But they are “achieving”, as defined by the State. Progress is being made. Growth is being charted.
So how is this progress being made? What’s going on at Covenant Keepers that’s moving these kids in the right direction?
Essentially, the best-kept secret in education is playing out inside the walls of Covenant Keepers, where leaders are moving beyond the talking stage and actually making things happen. To borrow a phrase from Nike, the administrators and teachers at CKCPCS “just do it”. They understand that the most innovative, forward-thinking ideas in education never see the light of day because most administrations are afraid of change. By embracing this attitude, Covenant Keepers has implemented several modern, research-based initiatives to close the achievement gap.
For instance:
- Block scheduling with double blocking for those who need the most help gives students and teachers the advantages of a block schedule, but also provides math and literacy courses that are twice as long as traditional bell scheduling allows.
- Mandatory tutoring from 4:00 to 5:00 which focuses on test prep with released items, hands-on manipulatives, application of reading strategies, and analysis of both poor and exceptional writing.
- Curriculum. Covenant Keepers curriculum uses Total Instructional Alignment, a model adopted by several Arkansas school districts, which offers effective vertical and horizontal alignment of standards.
- Data-driven instruction where ACTAAP and NWEA results are key factors in lesson plan design.
Extended Learning Opportunity gives students who are in danger of falling behind additional practice and one-on-one time with core teachers.
- Parent communication. Teachers are required to inform parents when a student is missing assignments or in danger of failing (the student has an average below 70%). Teachers are required to post a minimum of two grades per week on Edline.
- Advisory periods happen at the beginning and end of every day at Covenant Keepers. These 15 minute periods are an opportunity for groups of students (named after colleges nationwide) to take ownership of their education—preparing themselves mentally for the day ahead; organizing their materials and homework; celebrating successes and holding each other accountable at the end of the day for failures or behavioral issues; and agenda checks to ensure that all homework assignments have been recorded.
- Students are exposed to a level of structure and discipline that they have rarely, if ever, been exposed to in a school environment. From uniforms to classroom procedures, students are expected to respect themselves and the Covenant Keepers family.
- An atmosphere of consistently high expectations where students are driven by adults who believe in them.
A few phrases have developed significant meaning to the CK family:
- “A Place Where Eagles S.O.A.R.” means that Students Have the Opportunity to Achieve Results. And they do indeed. The 2010/2011 school year brought new meaning to the acronym when the school implemented the “I Will S.O.A.R.” initiative. Students are reminded to:
“Stay focused on my goals.
“Own up to my mistakes.”
“Accept that I am not grown.”
“Respect the CK family.”
Similar to the Porch program developed by YES Prep, students who stray off path and create a behavior issue will find themselves wearing a yellow “I will S.O.A.R.” t-shirt for the day signifying that they have received a discipline referral and may need a bit of coaching from their peers and teachers who will hold them accountable for their actions during the afternoon advisory period.
“Nothing we do for children is ever wasted.” Dr. Tatum’s genuine passion for education and children is reflected in her motto that demonstrates that she and those she entrusts with educating CK students will do whatever it takes get those students prepared to be successful in college and beyond.
- 159%. That’s what it takes to be an educator at Covenant Keepers. All day. Every day. And as a reminder, you’ll see the faculty and administration proudly wearing their 159% t-shirts on Fridays.
- “Don’t ask if you’re going to college. Ask where you’re going to college.” Because the expectation is that every CK student will go to college. That’s the Covenant. And it will be kept.
