Eric Hartwig prepares to hand off the reins of M-A Eric Hartwig prepares to hand off the reins of M-A (June 09, 2004)

In leaving, he reflects on his years as principal

By David Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer

Being a leader is a mixed bag. Not all plans work out and when they don't, the leader has to stand up and take it on the chin, unfair though it may be.

There are compensations. Sometimes, things do go as well as or better than expected, often as a result of teamwork, and leaders tend to be singled out and credited for a job well done.

With some of both to look back on after nine years as principal of Menlo-Atherton High School, Eric Hartwig is stepping out of one leading role and into another. Effective June 30, he'll leave M-A and prepare to head a new and experimental three-year high school now in the planning stages in the Sequoia Union High School District.

At a June 2 meeting, the Sequoia district board of trustees appointed Norman Estrada to be M-A's new principal.

A different school?

In 1999, the governor signed the Public Schools Accountability Act. The law established a system of standardized testing and performance targets to measure elementary and high-school students' academic abilities. The law provides commendations and financial incentives to reward achievement, and threatens intervention and sanctions to encourage progress.

This law has focused attention on academic achievement differences among groups of students, particularly students registered for the free or reduced-price lunch program or whose parents are without high school diplomas -- the so-called socio-economically disadvantaged students.

Since 1999, little has changed in the trends of achievement of core groups of students at M-A. White students continue to score above statewide performance targets, while socio-economically disadvantaged students -- and Hispanic and African-American students in general -- score significantly below average.

However, in some areas, M-A may have become a better school. The school has seen its population of socio-economically disadvantaged students increase 160 percent over the last five years. During that same time, test scores among these students are up, state records show.

Advanced placement (AP) classes used to be populated by students with the highest grades because the classes at M-A were few in number. Over the last 10 years, M-A has quadrupled the number of AP classes, offered AP support classes, and added classes such as AP Spanish literature that would attract students of color and build their confidence in taking on AP-level work. Enrollment of students of color has risen from 6 percent to 24 percent, Mr. Hartwig said.

Parents from Atherton and Menlo Park initially feared a dilution of standards, he said, but AP test scores have risen by 4 percent.

"There were a lot more 'AP-capable' students at our school than we thought," he said. "It's no longer unusual to be Latino and be taking AP classes and getting good scores."

Parents from East Palo Alto have complained that M-A wasn't capable of serving their children, many of whom needed extra attention, he said.

One way to get that attention today is the Compass program -- a summer school and mentoring program to welcome eighth-graders to high school. Now in its eighth year and in use throughout the district, Compass was Mr. Hartwig's idea.

M-A recently began sheltered instruction, in which trained instructors teach mainstream classes to non-native English-speaking students as they improve their English reading and writing skills.

"I think in the last 10 years, we've seen a huge improvement in the faith of (the East Palo Alto) community," Mr. Hartwig said. There is "much more generous and genuine support and loyalty to the school," he said.

Stubborn statistics

Despite the progress and the programs, the test scores of socio-economically disadvantaged students and many Hispanic and African-American students remain distant from those of white students. A major front-page story on the school in the March 2000 Wall Street Journal still resonates.

"We've made great strides since that article (but) there was truth in it, no question about it," Mr. Hartwig said. "We've turned a bright light on (low-performing students), part of our school's central mission, but we have a lot of progress still to make. ... It's a hard school to run because it does have large concentrations of students at those different points of our performance spectrum."

Students from Portola Valley, Atherton and Menlo Park tend not to need remedial reading classes, he noted, while children from East Palo Alto often do and are well-represented in such classes.

"I think it's a little disingenuous of the Wall Street Journal to come in and chastise us for that," he said. "I think it's a cheap shot." But he said the story emboldened him to ask for more generosity from friends of the school to help the students who need it. "We've got to work harder and get our message out," he said.

Reluctant departure

"I'm feeling very, very sad and nostalgic about leaving," Mr. Hartwig said. "I really love this school."

Asked what he will take with him as he leaves M-A, Mr. Hartwig said he learned a great deal about the importance of giving teachers feedback and taking opportunities to be warm to both students and teachers. "You can't praise people too much," he said.

"I hope to take the lessons I've learned at M-A and apply them much more wisely and effectively at my new calling."

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