Phillip & Sala Burton High School

Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School is an American secondary school in San Francisco, California. The founding of the school is a result of a consent decree ruling in 1984 between the City of San Francisco and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.^[3] First established in the Silver Terrace neighborhood, the current campus is located in Visitacion Valley at 400 Mansell Avenue, on the former site of Woodrow Wilson High School.^[4] The school is named after former U.S. Representatives Phillip Burton and his wife Sala Burton. Burton is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges until July 2018.

From January 2007 to May 2009, Leadership High School co-habitated with Burton High School; as did Metropolitan Arts and Tech Charter School from May 2009 to May 2011.

Burton's mission is to empower a community of self-directed learners with the skills for future academic success, responsible democratic and civic participation, and meaningful contribution to the local and global community by structuring an environment dedicated to the achievement of every student.

Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School promotes a nurturing, equitable school culture committed to high-level academic achievement for all students. Burton's student-centered learning communities engage students in rigorous, inquiry-based learning while also building personal relationships that support students in their pursuits. Burton graduates are creative and critical thinkers who use the foundations of the core curriculum and their commitment to social justice to make positive contributions to society. The school serves as a model for institutions everywhere; and our graduates are recruited by colleges and businesses that recognize them as leaders.

Burton's goals for each of their students is that upon graduation every Burton student will:

• Possess the ability, freedom, and confidence to solve problems creatively and from multiple perspectives (INNOVATION).
• Utilize their skills to navigate and engage an interconnected, inclusive, and global society (COMMUNITY).
• Master the core knowledge, critical thinking skills, and competencies outlined by the Common Core Standards (KNOWLEDGE).
• Achieve, lead, and collaborate with empathy both inside and outside of places of learning and work (COLLABORATION).
• Share their thoughts and research through writing, speaking, and in a variety of formats (COMMUNICATION).

Community Description

Phillip & Sala Burton Academic High School was established in 1984 under the court’s guidance as a consent decree between the NAACP and the City and County of San Francisco. Today, we continue to maintain many of the founding tenets of the school’s original design: a rigorous instructional program and quality college-preparatory education for all of our students. Burton champions small, diverse learning communities and carefully articulated grade-level teams. The faculty and staff have redesigned the high school model by personalizing the educational experience for all students. The staff at Burton holds the tenet that students learn best in a school environment where they are supported and nurtured by the school staff and their classmates. The wall-to-wall academy structure facilitates relationship building by enabling students and teachers to work collaboratively through curriculum that is engaging, contextual, and theme-based. The academies capitalize on national networks of educators and business leaders, e.g. National Academy Foundation (NAF) and National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) in aiding us to fulfill the needs of local and global economies.

By founding design tenets, Burton students take a seven period day, which means they will have had a chance to earn forty more credits than students in other San Francisco high schools. The extended day and programming for our students enable our students to engage in learning that surpasses other high schools in San Francisco—approximately 20% more. Burton’s instructional program is built with the understanding that the success of our students hinges on the quality of the teacher in the classroom; therefore, intentional structures exist to ensure that teachers continuously have the opportunity to reflect on their craft and commonly assess students’ acquisition of desired skills and content knowledge. The faculty and staff carefully articulate the students’ grade level experiences to facilitate the transition from middle school to high school and then from high school to post-secondary institutions.

The school’s leadership team holds the theory of action the student enrollment would grow, if it were responsive to the community’s feedback and re-visioning the Burton program. By implementing the community school model the school is responds to a variety of students’ needs by providing enrichment, youth leadership, mental, and physical health services to the Burton community. Word has spread throughout the city and region that Burton is a school that is innovative and setting trends. Burton High School continuously works to improve its reputation in the city. In doing so Burton’s enrollment has experienced five steady years of growth. Rising 9th graders and their families once again select Burton among the top of their school choices.

Our school boasts the distinction of being one of the most diverse schools in one of the most diverse cities in the country: San Francisco. The largest group by ethnicity is Chinese, representing just over one-quarter of the student population. Latino and Filipino students follow with just under one-quarter of the student population each. African-American students hover around 10%. Samoan students represent about 5% of the overall student population. Southeast Asians represent 3.7%, whereas “other non-white” students represent 4.2%. Though the total enrollment of the school has experienced a period of decline and a period of incline, generally, the student demographics at Burton High School has only experienced small shifts. This consistent pattern is true for the past twenty years at Burton.

Over the last few years, African-American enrollment has steadily declined in regards to the overall student enrollment. During the school year 2004-5, Burton’s African-American student population was 18% of the entire enrollment. The trend of the shrinking African-American population from Burton’s enrollment may correlate with the shifting popularity of Burton from families of students who hail from Bayview/Hunters’ Point to families of students who reside in the Ingleside and Excelsior neighborhoods. Both neighborhoods adjoin the Portola District, Burton’s home neighborhood. This trend may also correlate with the overall city trend of African-American families leaving San Francisco for more affordable locales (from 1970 the city’s African-American population was 13%; in 2006 the population declined to just 6%).

With the awarding of city funding to host a citywide Beacon on campus, Burton adopted the community schools model as means to elevate the status of the school, improve its reputation in the community, and better serve the students. The Beacon arrived with three major tenets that focus on the enrichment and development of the Burton studentry, school-age children in the community, and adult members of our larger community. Under the coordination of the Beacon the school hosts workshops for youth and adults, as well as one of the district’s Saturday and Evening High School credit recovery and enrichment programs. Burton students participate in intramurals, club meetings, and a wide range of other youth development activities. With the understanding of expanding our programming beyond the traditional academic track, the school continues to leverage school, city, state, and federal resources to educate and elevate these three important community stakeholder groups. As a result of building out extended learning programs and implementing community school principles, students report a greater connection to their school community. Additionally, students report a safer school environment in which they can learn. One particular feedback data point from the student body is that over 44% report that they are not involved in decisions made at Burton. Even though this is an improvement from the two previous years’ feedback, it indicates an area of concern for the school’s staff.

Employing restorative practice principles, focusing on de-escalation strategies as professional development, and carving out time for students to partake in a unique, cutting edge program called Quiet Time have helped the school think differently about discipline and the lessons that come from poor decisions that some adolescents make. The school has significantly reduced out-of-school student suspensions over the last several years. As late as school year 2008-9 Burton once had been among the top four highest suspending schools in the city: one of the two highest suspending high schools in the district. Currently, the school's suspension rate is close to the district average: both overall average for all schools and average for high schools.

One of the school district’s goals is for all schools to focus on access and equity. San Francisco Unified School District considers equity in terms of disrupting the predictability of success or failure that currently correlates with any social or cultural factor. Even though the school has made significant strides in increasing the instructional time for all of the students by reducing our suspensions, providing case management, and building a positive school culture, there is still a large inequity in which students are suspended from school. Even though African-American students are 10% of the Burton enrollment, they represent almost half of the out-of-school suspensions. Over the last five years, the trend of suspending African-Americans have hovered at 40%. Latino students are suspended at a lower rate; their rates of suspension have fluctuated dramatically over the past five years.

Over the past few years, the school has experienced continued improvement of attendance rates and reduction of truancy rates for African-American students; however, the overall student body has plateaued just over 91%. By expanding services to students through the expanded Wellness Center and Teen Clinic, as well as case management for targeted students through partnerships with the Bayview Beacon and Truancy Assessment Resource Center, Burton has increased the instructional time for our students.

In regards to student achievement and state accountability measures, Burton’s Academic Performance Index climbed steadily 109 points over the last several years. The API calculation under the most recent state accountability system occurred for the SY 2012-13, at which point Burton’s API was 732. For the most recent reporting period our decile state ranking and similar schools ranking is 4, 4. The three year non-weighted API average is 716 and the weighted API average is 718. The California Department of Education approved the use of a 3-Year Average API Report, which includes a non-weighted average API and a weighted average API. We are using this data indicator as one measure of our school’s success in instructional programming as the State of California shifts to the new assessment system known as the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP).

Burton attributes the increase of our API over the last five years to the teaming of teachers, clarity and consistency of priorities, and focused instructional practices. Creating a school climate where students and teachers work together to solve dilemmas, build relational trust, and engage in student-centered practices have assisted in building of positive gains. At Burton teachers plan collaboratively on several important levels: common pacing on instructional units, reflection on various assessments, creation of engaging lesson plans, and diving deep into the new common core state standards. Once per week, Burton dismisses regular classes early in order for teachers to plan and reflect in departmental groups, curricular clusters, and faculty wide sessions. Additionally, the Burton leadership follows through on the understanding that teachers’ time is the most valuable resource allocated to a school site. The team is intentional and deliberate in providing common planning periods for teachers in priority areas of the school. For instance, American literature teachers have third period planning; and Algebra 2 teachers have second period planning so that they can work to create meaningful lessons and assess their practice as a team. Even though the school no longer uses the California Standardized Testing program to gauge students’ acquisition of the curriculum set forth by the state and the school district, structures indicate that this work materializes in strong gains for students in almost every academic area.

Another particular focus for Burton is to create an educational experience for our students that is articulated and scaffolded with clear expectations from grades nine through graduation. In order to meet this objective, teachers at Burton assemble into grade level teams. Each team has a teacher leader who is responsible for convening the team and following through on a three-prong agenda: honing the behavioral and academic expectations for students, implementing a wide range of intervention strategies for students, and developing team building activities that demonstrate that each student is a member of a larger community and is recognized as such.

With tremendous support of the school district’s Career Technical Education office, Burton piloted the National Academy Foundation’s wall-to-wall academy model for San Francisco. Following the freshman year, Burton students self-select into one of three career-themed academies. Students who elect to continue playing for one of the Burton bands elect to postpone their academy selection until their junior year. Each academy is designed to provide students with a relevant experience that is grounded in academic content. Students have the choice between engineering, health science, and media arts and entertainment. Over the course of their study, students partake in a wide range of field trips and job shadowing experiences. Guest speakers from the industry come to Burton to present and discuss with students what skills are necessary to pursue jobs in a particular industry. Additionally, guest speakers speak to the assortment of jobs that each industry actively recruits. Students have the option to participate in summer internships—some of which are paid! Collectively, academy students work as a class or as a member of a small group on a final project leading up to their graduation. All students commemorate their participation as a member of the academy with a celebration and a sash that adorns their graduation gown. The primary objective of the Burton wall-to-wall academy structure is to utilize the rigor, relevance, and articulation of the curricular program to fully engage students, thus reducing the truancy and dropout rates, closing the achievement gap, improving test scores, and increasing the graduation and college entrance rates.

Burton High School works closely with the San Francisco Education Fund, a non-profit, that works to support schools on building and following through on their Post-Secondary Success Plans for graduates. Through the data culled from National Clearinghouse Student Database, the Burton community can reflect using real data on the success of our program in terms of measuring our graduates’ success following high school graduation. Like other San Francisco high school graduates who elect to enroll in a two year program like City College of San Francisco, only 10% of students leave the program in five years with any degree or certificate. However, 90% of Burton graduates who attend a four year institution immediately following high school successfully complete their program within five years. Additionally, when compared to similar high schools in San Francisco, Burton graduates are more likely to attend a two year program over the four year program. These data points and realities are beginning to emerge as priority areas for the school. It is becoming clear that we must consistently convey to our students and their families that college-eligible graduates must access the four year institution over the two year.

With the rebounding student enrollment, Burton’s leadership has been able to allocate additional resources to support additional Advanced Placement offerings for students. For the 2014-145 school year the offer three additional AP courses for our students: one is returning after a few years of hiatus, two are brand new to the Burton program. Students who elect to take an AP course also agree to various terms that are outlined in a contract that is signed by the teacher, department chair, student, and parent. The terms of the contracts vary depending on the course. Some require students to attend academic clinics held on Saturdays; others require summer assignments; others mandate lunchtime tutoring sessions when grades begin to dip. While we are proud to offer an increasingly larger array of demanding courses to our students, there are a few data points that bring us concern: the performance of our students on the AP exams and the diversity of the students who persist in these classes. As mentioned previously, Burton and SFUSD have explicitly defined equity in terms of allocating resources—even if that means unequally—to break the predictability of student success based on race or other cultural factors. The concern is that AP courses cost the school more: teachers who teach them either receive a stipend or an additional planning period as agreed by the school district and the teachers union contract. Currently, the course offerings for Burton students are (* denotes new course offering as of SY 2014-15; + indicates new to Burton as of SY 2012-13):

AP Chemistry*, AP Language and Composition*, AP Literature+, AP US History+, AP Art History*, AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, and AP Mandarin+.

See also

• San Francisco County high schools

References

External links

• Official Website as of March 1, 2008
• Great Schools profile on Burton HS