Program boosting district’s scores
Low achievers with ‘potential’ targeted

By Bruce Lieberman, San Diego Union Tribune, September 13, 2009

SAN MARCOS — There's not a minute wasted in Michelle Petitte's eighth-grade humanities class. The 13- and 14-year-olds in her classroom at Woodland Park Middle School are guided efficiently from task to task.

“What were the two things that landed you in this special humanities class? Bad grades and bad test scores,” Petitte tells her students in a no-nonsense tone that tells a lot about her approach to teaching.