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This year, students enrolled in personal wellness classes at the Native American Community Academy (NACA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took a different kind of final exam.

The young learners at this middle and high school in the heart of the Southwest collected herbs and other plants from the surrounding region. They then learned how to distill those ingredients into traditional teas and compresses鈥攆ollowing medicinal recipes used for generations by the region鈥檚 native peoples.

It鈥檚 par for the course at this public school where more than 90% of students are Native American, said teacher Reed Bobroff.

NACA asks "how can we actively use the teachings of our ancestors to help our students develop as healthy and competent native people,鈥� he said.

That mix of indigenous knowledge with state curriculum standards听also is one reason why the school caught the eye of researchers at the (NEPC) based at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder's School of Education.

In May, the center designated NACA as one of seven 2018鈥�19 .听This recognition program for public high schools, now in its fourth year, pursues a not-so-easy to answer question, said Adam York, a research associate at the NEPC: How can school's close the "oppotunity gap" for students, or the idea that not all kids have access to a good education?

This year鈥檚 honorees cross the United States from seaside Maine to urban Los Angeles. But they all have something in common. Like NACA, these schools stretch their limited resources to provide meaningful and challenging learning opportunities to all of their students, not just a few gifted pupils.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e pushing back on the ways in which the mainstream media talks about schools,鈥� York said. 鈥淭hese stories are showing how schools do many amazing things in the face of the challenges from听an inequitable society.鈥�

Opportunity gaps

When the Schools of Opportunity first launched in 2015, York said听the idea was to recognize a different kind of successful school.

He explained the project doesn鈥檛 look at standardized tests scores when evaluating places of learning鈥攄ata that tends to favor schools from affluent communities.

Instead, the project recognizes schools that deliver opportunities that research suggests do the most good for students, despite imperfect circumstances. Many Schools of Opportunity鈥攖here are now 52 in all鈥攈ave a large percentage of students who receive free and reduced lunches. Others serve heavily immigrant or refugee communities.

鈥淲e wanted to explore what it would mean if we recognized schools for the ways they were addressing opportunity gaps,鈥� said Linda Molner Kelley, co-director of the project and a former director of Outreach and Engagement at 麻豆免费版下载Boulder. 鈥淲hat are the things the schools can do to address some of the discrepancies in education?鈥�

The program evaluates possible Schools of Opportunity based on 10 criteria drawn from rigorous research. They include how schools 鈥渃reate and maintain a healthy school culture鈥� and 鈥減rovide rich, supportive opportunities for students with special needs.鈥�

But, Kelley added, these schools have also taken a number of different paths toward meeting the same guidelines.

Some, such as听this year鈥檚 Clark Street Community School in Middleton, Wisconsin, have gotten rid of grades entirely. Others, such as the Salt Lake Center for Science Education in Salt Lake City, encourage their students to get outside and explore nature.

鈥淭here is no single profile for these schools,鈥� Kelley said. 鈥淭hey meet the criteria because they know their local contexts, and they鈥檙e working with their communities to use their resources to do things a little bit differently for the students and their families.鈥�

Student wellness

Schools of Opportunity don鈥檛 receive extra funding for their recognition. But Kelley and her colleagues hope they will serve as role models for their peers across the country鈥攕howcasing the creative ways high schools can use their slim funds to meet the needs of their pupils.

One of this year鈥檚 honorees, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Early College in Denver, is a prime example. Less than two decades ago, MLK, located in a mainly Hispanic and black neighborhood of the city, had gained a reputation as one of the worst听schools in Colorado. Today, its graduation rates far exceed the Denver average.听

Principal Kimberly Grayson credits that turnaround, in part, to the school鈥檚 focus on being 鈥渢rauma informed.鈥� In recent years, she has hired three full-time mental health professionals to help her students navigate complicated problems鈥攆rom losing loved ones to seeing their parents get deported.

鈥淚f I truly care about my kids, I can鈥檛 ask them to go into a classroom and forget their baggage,鈥� Grayson said.

She hopes other high schools across Colorado will take note. 鈥淭o see the school come so far and to have this recognition means the world to us,鈥� Grayson said.

NACA鈥檚 Reed Bobroff echoes those sentiments. As a young man, he was part of the school鈥檚 first graduating class and has since returned as its arts integration coordinator.

鈥淚鈥檓 super excited for this opportunity,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 know how hard our teachers and staff work to create a school that balances our own traditions and the Western educational tradition.鈥�

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