MAY 2017 8 | FRONTDOORSMEDIA .COM down to 3.2 percent. These are numbers that Gestson says are “unheard of” in an urban, inner-city school district. Not only that, the students who are graduating are heading to college in droves. Bioscience High School had a 100 percent college enrollment rate last year, and even Franklin Police & Fire High School — which prepares students to go directly to a police or fire academy — saw about 90 percent of its students enroll in college last year. Gestson said it’s not that large high schools don’t work — they’re critical, actually, to the district’s success and are a great fit for many students. Phoenix Union has worked hard to improve the student experiences at the big schools as well. “This generation of students learns differently,” he said. “They want to problem solve and be collaborative, and we have to build a structure around them that feeds that.” Overall, Phoenix Union is enjoying its highest enrollment in 40 years, despite the competition from charters and private schools. And there’s more to come. Two new schools are about to open — one focused on creating a curriculum for students with middle-of-the-road academic achievement, who often fall through the cracks, and the other being the Phoenix Union Gifted and Talented Academy. Another one, currently on the drawing board, would be Arizona’s first high school designed to be an educator’s academy to train the teachers of tomorrow – when they very well may come back to Phoenix Union and serve its students. “We believe our students have all the potential, if not more potential, than students who come from typical middle- class families in suburban Arizona and suburban America,” Gestson said. “What we don’t want is for the community to say ‘Look at that district having to serve those tough communities.’ We believe they’re beautiful kids with incredible potential.” NEXT DOORS CONTINUED @tevans927 Tom Evans CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

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