When 10-year-old Sandra Delval stumbled on a word in her book, Pat Harvey knelt beside her and pointed to the text – syllable by syllable – with the tip of her eyeglasses.
“… Sug … gest … ed,” the young girl pronounced.
Harvey smiled.
On a tour through Philips Elementary School’s Summer Scholars program, she repeatedly gravitated to kids earnestly working on reading and writing – two of the core issues she would address if hired as superintendent of Denver Public Schools.
“I like the attention to literacy,” Harvey, 58, the current superintendent of St. Paul (Minn.) Public Schools, said during a round of appearances Thursday. “I can see a resemblance in the level of books that we use. You’re doing much the same work.”
Harvey, a finalist for the job along with local candidates Michael Bennet and Christine Johnson, mingled with students and staff and even slapped a high-five with a school volunteer after a brief chat about another of her passions – improving kids’ second-language skills.
In a day filled with meetings – with principals, teachers, media and the public – Harvey hammered home some key elements of what could become her Denver agenda.
Rather than entirely reinventing Denver’s approach, she vowed to improve implementation of current programs, learn “with precision” where each child is academically, and take a “deep look” at the achievement gap among students.
She said that Denver is not a system in crisis but one that needs refinement and direction.
“The agenda is right,” Harvey said. “Let’s make it work.”
Harvey said she would demand academic rigor and raise expectations with a philosophy that “effort breeds intelligence.”
Mirroring a program she helped institute in St. Paul, she said she’d create smaller student groups within high schools – like colleges within a university – that prepare kids to succeed in a global economy.
“Now, if all kids don’t get to high levels of achievement, they’re doomed to a life of low wages,” she told a public form at the end of the day. “We have the opportunity to get all kids to that high level. Our kids need to be relentless.”
Harvey earned spontaneous applause at the evening forum for her insistence on encouraging second-language education.
“It’s ridiculous in western society that all our kids aren’t learning two languages,” she said. “Some people say, ‘Well, what will that do to test scores?’ I’ll tell you: By the end of third grade, they’re off the charts.”
Although Harvey said Denver is pointed in the right direction, she won’t be shy about trying new ways to improve performance.
“I should not be standing here if I was happy with things the way they are,” Harvey said. “There’s a reason Formula 409 is called 409 – they tried 408 things before it.”
Staff writer Kevin Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@denverpost.com or 303-820-1739.
