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GLORIA PENNER (Host): This Tuesday marked the third year that students at Lincoln High School
in Southeast San Diego would walk through the gates
and onto a beautiful state of the art campus.
The previous school was closed and torn down in 2003.
Today close to 2,400 attend the new school,
but what role does the physical environment play in educating kids?
And how important is a strong leader in motivating kids to succeed in school?
I'm joined now by KPBS reporter, Sharon Heilbrunn.
She's working on a story for KPBS's Envision San Diego documentary on education.
It airs next week.
Welcome to you Sharon.
SHARON HEILBRUNN (KPBS Reporter): Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
PENNER: Why was Lincoln High School torn down in 2003?
HEILBRUNN: Two reasons.
The building had deteriorated considerably.
There were holes, there were leaks.
They couldn't update modern technology because the wiring was so bad.
So they couldn't bring it up to date -
they couldn't give high school students what they need in this day and age to really succeed.
The second reason was poor academics.
They had low academic achievement, people in the neighborhood felt
that the students were being shortchanged.
So I think the conception was just hey lets start over,
lets just tear it down and build fresh.
PENNER: You don't do that very often with buildings but there was money there, right?
From Proposition MM?
HEILBRUNN: Proposition MM, and it cost more than 20 million dollars.
So they definitely got behind it.
Taxpayers wanted it done, and it did get done.
PENNER: And that was kind of surprising when it passed.
You know people don't pass bond measures that easily,
and that really passed with flying colors.
My understanding is that about 2,400 students now attend Lincoln
and when it closed it was only 300 students.
So they built it and they came?
HEILBRUNN: Thats what's so interesting.
They couldn't get people to stay at the school when it was the old Lincoln,
and now they're having to turn people away.
And its easy to see why.
I mean, they have beautiful classrooms, they've got a track and field and stadium
that rivals any college campus, a new library, modern technology...
Its a beautiful place, and their academics are definitely above par.
Advanced placement courses, they're feeding into UCSD to get students
to go from high school to college.
So they're really getting behind not only the physical part of it,
but also the academic part of it.
PENNER: Well we do have a clip form the interview you did with the principal
of Lincoln High School, Mel Collins, and heres what he had to say
about the importance of that school.
MEL COLLINS (Lincoln HS Principal): II mean, everything known to man,
to be on a high school campus, for the most part is here.
So there is no excuse for you not to learn, for you not to come and hopefully be motivated
and turned on about this thing called education.
As people passed by and they watched it being built after having it torn down
and to see a somewhat of a phoenix rising from the ashes, and the way that it did look -
you could kind of see from the street, and those who ventured inside it was like,
wow this is like something else, next to amazing.
And the feeling that the community has now and had then about the possibilities that existed,
and that over a long period of time this should be a beacon of light, of hope.
Something that we can point to with pride.
And we're just getting started.
PENNER: How important is the leadership of someone
like that principal to this whole effort?
HEILBRUNN: Its so important.
He is so real, so down to earth.
He gets on the level with these students.
He connects with them.
And you need someone like that to connect with these students and to hold them accountable.
Say hey, I believe in you but I have high expectations.
I know its a rough neighborhood, I know you're dealing with a lot of things,
but I believe in you and I want you to succeed.
PENNER: But the environment is different now.
I'm wondering if the curriculum
in any way reflects this different environment in which they are.
HEILBRUNN: The curriculum reflects it.
I think that there are higher expectations.
And like I said, a lot of these students are going through things outside
of those school gates that in other districts they don't go through.
They're having to deal with things at home, they're even just navigating the streets.
You know, dealing with gangs and violence when they leave the school grounds.
And you have to take someone like Mel Collins who understands that but still believes
in these students and still wants them to succeed,
and holds them to very high expectations to make sure that this goes the way that they hope.
PENNER: Well thank you very much Sharon Heilbrunn.
HEILBRUNN: Thank you.