Anchor Lead:
Stanley Elementary in Tacoma is in the city's roughest neighborhood. Its students are poor and largely minority. Crime is high and parental involvement is low.
Despite this Stanley has extremely high test scores and even higher student and teacher moral. In our ongoing education series "The Learning Curve" KPLU's Jennifer Niessen explores what sets Stanley apart.

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JENNIFER NIESSEN(JN): Located in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood, this kindergarten through fifth grade school is in one of the most frequently called zip-codes to child protective services in the State.
The area has a lot of crime. A poignant reminder is across the street. A memorial of flowers and balloons is piled up at the base of a stop sign where two young men were recently shot and killed.
Missy Porter is the school's counselor. She says some of 363 children at Stanley are already exhibiting behaviors that could eventually turn into jail time.

PORTER: "Sexual harassment, predatory behaviors. Kids that have been sexually abused that are now becoming agressors themselves. Kids who want to fight."

JN: Before any real changes could be made at the struggling school, Principal Jeanie Engelland and the staff decided to let go of what they couldn't control.

ENGELLAND: "The discussions about what parents should do with children, what agencies should provide... if it wasn't happening or going to happen, them why spend the time and energy on it?"

JN: The question became "what can Stanley do?"

Stanley Elementary School Tacoma School District Pictures courtesy Tacoma Public Schools .		ENGELLAND: "For example, when I first came there were some practices through good intentions of good staff members who would let children sleep. They knew they weren't sleeping at night ...didn't have their own bed...came to school tired, so they were allowed to sleep during the day. That's a good and caring gesture, but it's not a long term fix for a long term problem that isn't going away. JN: Now when students are sleepy, they're given a snack, or encouraged to drink water. ENGELLAND: "Take a nap at recess, but you can't sleep during learning time. It's just to important and there's no way to make up for it."

JN:Staff at the school has also received training on the effects of poverty on education.
Under Engelland's leadership, 4th graders have been making consistent gains on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning Exam.
England says when she took on the job as principal, the numbers were dismal.

ENGELLAND: "That first year of WASL, we had single digit math performance, one student who met the standard, and that was in 1997 in the beginning of this, and there were lots of things that needed changing."

JN: Last year 73 percent of students were proficient in math ... nearly double the average for the district.
Engelland says to get to that point, there was a lot of dialogue about what is needed for students to achieve.

ENGELLAND: "What we came up with is a clear and focused mission that what our kids need is a safe environment in which they can learn to meet high standards."

JN: Students at Stanley do feel they're in a safe haven. They know the adults have their best interest in mind. A few months ago, someone came on the school's property with a loaded gun, and pointed it at children through classroom windows. The building went into lockdown. Fifth grader Silas Doss is ever grateful for how his teachers responded.

DOSS: "I just liked the fact that they would come outside on their lunch time just to come get us in the middle of recess and their lunch break to save us to make sure we don't get murdered or nothing like that."

JN: The mission of the school is the basis for all of the decision making at ...from resources to personnel.
To keep the mission alive, Engelland pursues grants, free tutoring services. She creates more learning time for students by adjusting teacher's hours so there's someone to help kids during lunch and after school.
The work is not only paying off on paper, but also in the hopes and dreams of the children. Fifth graders... 10 year olds Silas Doss and Lisa Manly are already looking ahead to college.

MANLY: "I play several instruments, the piano the clarinet. It's going to be a hard choice what I go to college for. I want to be a teacher, an elementary school teacher."

JN: After spending a few minutes in the carpeted hallways of Stanley elementary one of the first signs the school is "different" is the sight of "dogs".

SFX: Julie Serals greeting students with "Maddie" at her side.

JN: An attentive medium sized tawny mongrel named "Maddie" stands at the side of teacher Judy Serals.
Serals is greeting fourth graders at 8 o'clock in the morning.
And Maddie puts an immediate smile on the kid's faces as they file into the classroom carrying their free breakfasts.
Serals says dogs fit into one of the school's core beliefs.
"Build positive relationships with the kids and they will do just about anything for you in the classroom".

ENGELLAND: "Dogs love unconditionally. So for the kids that know that she's going to be kind and friendly to them and they don't have to do anything and just be themselves. Sometimes they don't always have that with the adults in their life."

SFX: School Bells

JN: Steve De Pute is the school's full time Music teacher. He says Engelland has created an environment where teachers are expected to work closely together. He also says she has amazing interpersonal skills.

De Pute: "Jeanie England has an ability to recognize and work with all different personalities like the demanding teacher who has a lot of creativity or the structures teacher who is very supportive, but very structured."

JN: Principal Engelland uses that talent to draw out information and useful tips from successful schools as far away as Oregon and California. She wants to know about any good ideas that can be applied to Stanley. That's how she came up with the school's navy blue and white uniform.

ENGELLAND: "We found that especially in high schools uniforms can give stability and can take away a lot of clothing issues...where does your mom buy your clothes. It bypasses a lot of issues that are distracting to learning."

JN: Other schools and districts are taking notice of what is happening at Stanley.
Jeanie Engelland and her staff have been asked so often "how do you do it?" that they've put together a formal presentation.
Aside from test scores, other sings the school is becoming stronger is that fewer students are transferring in and out and teacher turnover rates are dropping. The school is also welcoming more children who were in private school and being taught at home.
Engelland says she plans to stay another five years. She wants to get Stanley running like a well-oiled machine, so it works for students and teachers, no matter who is in the driver's seat.

Jennifer Niessen, KPLU, Tacoma.