After a hot and dry summer vacation, Mingus Union High School had its first day of school on Thursday, Aug. 1. Students and teachers returned to a school not hugely changed from the previous year, but where administrators hope to solidify recent changes to improve education.
“It was great. Our students back filling the hallways is always exciting,” Principal Genie Gee said.
According to Gee, a major focus of the administration has been to bolster some of the additions to the school that were made in the 2018-19 term and make them permanent.
“We’re working on year two of the Power Hour, year two of advisory, year two of having our student IDs,” Gee said. “We’re furthering the mission rather than implementing new systems, so it just feels good because our kids are coming back to some of these things and it’s just exciting to see the success of it in year two also.”
Power Hour refers to an elongated lunch hour that the school started implementing last year, wherein students who are having trouble in a class are expected to meet with their teachers for extra help.
Administrators point to last year’s introduction of the program as a success, and hope to build on it this year as well. But with no student starting out failing, for the first few weeks of the school year, that means longer free periods for all students, something that the school has to deal with as more students with free time means a need for more supervision and chaperones.
“We learned that as the number of Ds and Fs decreased, we have larger and larger numbers of students with full hour lunch,” Superintendent Mike Westcott said. “That means a larger number of students on campus.”
For Westcott, this first day is a true first day, as he was only approved by the Mingus Union High School District Governing Board as superintendent in June.
Westcott’s predecessor, Dr. Penny Hargrove, resigned last year after conflicts with the board, and Westcott, an ex-teacher and alumnus of the school, says he is trying to make the transition into a new administration as smooth as possible.
“I get to watch it from a different perspective,” Westcott said of the transition from teaching to administrating. “Unless I make a specific
effort to make a direct connection to students, I often don’t.”
Westcott said one of his major goals is to make that kind of direct connection, not just with the students, but with all of the stakeholders involved with the school. He hopes to hold one on one meetings with various groups around town, as well as a town hall for parents and members of the community some time within the first few months of the school year, in an effort to make the school more receptive to input and goals from the Mingus community.
Westcott is not the only new administrator; Dr. Justin Hartman was hired by the school district for this coming year as assistant principal.
In addition to the personnel, the other big change for Mingus in this coming year is a revamped cafeteria, which has been designed to foster an atmosphere more like a university student union facility than a traditional high school lunchroom. Tables are equipped with charging stations for students’ phones, along with TVs playing multiple different channels including news and sports that students can listen to audio tracks for on their phones. A customizable sub station allows for students to pick their food options, and the school is providing more breakfast options to allow students who arrive early to get a start on the day.
Gee sees a major goal of this year and beyond as getting the school’s letter grade with the Arizona Department of Education up to an A. In 2017-18, problems with the computer process of AZMerit testing led to the school falling all the way down to a D, which Gee hopes that last year and this year can make up for.
But beyond academics, Gee spoke of goals for the coming year of fostering a shared vision in all parts of the school.
“We have a commitment, not just because it’s our job, but because it’s our community,” Gee said of her administration. “We’ve been here a long time.”
