New leader takes over Oakland, implements changes

EBERSOLE

Students at Oakland  Alternative High School can expect some changes this school year – not only does the school have a new principal, but a new class schedule structure, as well.

Oakland Principal Lillian Ebersole, formerly assistant principal at Wilson High School, wanted to stabilize the population at Oakland by changing the way classes are offered.

"In the past, Oakland has just been an open-door concept," she explained, "which kind of resulted in a bus station kind of climate."

Oakland students this year will have a schedule similar to one they might have during summer school. Classes will be offered in four-week rotations, 22 days total.

Ebersole said students will take a block class in the morning and another one in the afternoon for 2.5 hours each. Once a four-week rotation starts, Oakland will not accept any new students until the next rotation. "This will stabilize the population," Ebersole predicted, "and enable teachers to stabilize instruction."

She emphasized Oakland will still have an open enrollment policy. "It's just modified so it's more manageable and makes a little more sense in regards to student achievement and productivity."

In addition, students at Oakland who enroll must commit to staying for at least a semester if not the remainder of the year, according to Ebersole. At the end of a rotation, students will receive one credit for each class.

In between the rotations, there will be an interim period of four days, which Ebersole said existing students could use to work on graduation requirements, such as their portfolios and community service, as well as capturing elective credit.

In her discussions with students and staff thus far, Ebersole said the feedback about the new class structure has been positive. She is prepared for a few bumps in the road as Oakland begins a new journey. "We need to figure out what's going to work best for kids to make them successful and give them options."

Internet classes are also in the works for Oakland. "We're really excited about that," she remarked.

Eventually, Ebersole envisions all the basic core classes being available online, and students taking more vocational-type classes at school, specifically in the fields of health and human services and environment studies. "We would like it to be a career academy," she commented, "but it's going to take a little bit of time to get there."

Ebersole has experience teaching in health and human services programs at Highland Community College, and Bates and Clover Park technical colleges.

From there, she taught similar classes at the high school level, including at Lincoln. "Once I got into the high schools, I realized that's where I wanted to be," Ebersole said.

Before coming to Wilson, she served as assistant principal at Lincoln for one year and Gig Harbor High School prior to that.

Ebersole herself is a product of Tacoma Public Schools. She is a graduate of Mt. Tahoma High School and Baker Middle School. She was born in Denmark and immigrated to the United States, but she refers to Tacoma as her home.

Ebersole earned her undergraduate degree at Evergreen State College and master's in education from City University.

Ebersole said she's always been interested in school administration work, but didn't want to be principal of a comprehensive school, but rather a school in the alternative setting. "There's more potential to generate opportunities for kids," she noted, at an alternative school.

"I've always been really in tune with kids whose lives are such that a comprehensive high school doesn't work for them," she explained. "It doesn't mean they're bad kids or incapable of learning; they just need something different."

Ebersole said she's had her eye on Oakland for a while, and with the retirement of longtime principal Kathleen Wells, the position was open. Oakland had an interim principal this past year, Dr. William Weeks.

Ebersole is looking forward to the one-on-one interaction with students at Oakland, which she said she wouldn't get at a comprehensive high school. "If I didn't have that, I couldn't do this job," she declared.

Ebersole would like to see more students attend Oakland. This year, an estimated 200 students are expected to attend. Ebersole hopes to get that number up to 400. "In two years, I want to have kids lined up wanting to get into Oakland," she said. "It needs to become a school of choice and students want to be here."

To make sure students get what they need out of Oakland, every student who comes through the door will go through a series of tests and assessments to determine where they are. "Our goal is to meet the kids where they are and bring them up to standard so they can move on to post secondary training and college work," she said. "It means every students gets individualized attention."

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