McManus Elementary moving toward modernization
CHICO >> McManus Elementary is the next school within the Chico Unified School District scheduled to undergo modernization. Rather than just revamp the physical appearance of the school, staff and administration are taking an extra step to incorporate diverse voices and input from all of its families.
“Our school vision is creating a high-quality learning environment and culture to strengthen academic and emotional success for all students,” said McManus Principal Chris Weaver. “For me, that’s an inspiration statement. I really want to hone in on ‘all.’”
The modernization of various schools within CUSD has been funded by Measure K. Though the revamp of McManus is a multi-year project, Weaver said his staff was interested in limiting racial bias and encouraging equity right away.
“We responded and formed the School Equity Accountability Team (SEAT),” Weaver said. “The idea behind is that everybody has a seat at the table.”
Those on SEAT include Weaver, school counselor Dolores Soto, teachers Katie Bailey and Andrew Canales, school psychologist Laura Puterbaugh, homeless and foster youth liaison Ritesh Kanji and cultural anthropologist Felipe Restrepo.
Restrepo, who is also the Chico State men’s soccer coach, has a PhD in social organization. Restrepo’s work with McManus includes examining culture, equity and inclusion.
“What’s happening right now is that there is a narrative being built around different parts of schooling, culture of the school, as it relates to equity and success of all students,” Restrepo said. “They’re re-modernizing it, enhancing it from the inside out. Making the school go from good to great.”
Weaver, who is in his second year as principal, reached out to Restrepo for help on the project.
“I thought it was important as principal to reach out and get some guidance from an expert when it comes to taking a look at how we can improve systems here,” Weaver said.
Weaver and Restrepo have actually known each other for a few years. Restrepo would often bring players from his soccer team to the school to interact with the kids.
One of the ways to help improve racial equity and eliminate bias within the school is to reach out to more non English speaking families and get their input on what they’d like to see within the school, Weaver said.
No concrete plans have been formed yet, since the SEAT group is still in its infancy and has only met twice. However, Weaver said one of the ideas that have been mentioned in a brainstorming session is moving the school’s multicultural night to the beginning of the school year, instead of at the end of the year. The multicultural night could be a way to speak to a variety of families about the environment at McManus, Weaver said.
“As far as parental involvement goes, I really want to make sure that we’re reaching all families and all parents,” Weaver said. “We just want to enhance parental involvement.”
Restrepo said he’s spoken to staff about “heart pain points” or audit components which involves asking staff “what stresses them?”
“As that’s started to happen, one of those pain points is this idea of family and community engagement. How can we improve that for everyone?” Restrepo said. “The more engagement, the more success the students will have and the better the experience. This is the path that we are on at this point.”
Restrepo added that the initiative to improve McManus will have a lasting effect on the students for many years once it’s completed.
“It’ll be able to take McManus into the future of education,” Restrepo said. “It’s really exciting to be a part of”