A Discussion with Jozef Rostworowski, Director of Academics, Kostka Academy, Krakow, Poland

With: Jozef Rostworowski Berkley Center Profile

July 9, 2013

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in summer 2013 undergraduate student Elisabeth Lembo interviewed Jozef Rostworowski, director of academics at Kostka Academy, a Jesuit charter school located in a lower-income neighborhood of Krakow, Poland. In this interview Rostworowski discusses the academy's founding in 2011, the socioeconomic diversity of its students, obstacles that he faces at work, and the significance of Kostka's Jesuit identity.

Can you tell me how you got to your position today as director of academics at Kostka Academy?

I worked in various areas of education before I got here to this position as director. First, I was a teacher. I then worked for the government as a “curator”—that is the translation we use here in Poland. The role of “curator” includes various functions of administration in the school. This position of director of academics was then set up for me when Kostka was created.

What is the demographic of students who come here to attend Kostka?

The students here are ages 13 to 15. In the American school system, this is a middle school. In Polish, it is called gimnazjum. There are 108 students at Kostka, and they are enrolled across five classes. Each class year has about 24 students. Right now, we have a first and second class—like sixth and seventh grade. Next year we will enroll our third class. This will place the school at full capacity.

Since there is limited capacity at Kostka, how do you select students?

Since it is publicly funded, Kostka is a “regional school.” This means that we have a quota of students from this school district that must go here. Any student from the district that wants to come here must legally be allowed to. Then, once that quota is reached, we are allowed to take students from farther away. In order to select students for the school, we first look at the neighborhood where students are from. As part of their application for Kostka, students must fill out a form. One of the questions on the form asks where students are from. All students who apply from this district, which is a low-income district, are accepted. After that, we have hundreds of applications from students from other districts, and we primarily look at grades. The top students are accepted.

I know Kostka was only created two years ago. What was the school like before that?

Correct, in this same space—which is now Kostka—used to be a different gimnazjum (middle school) in this same building; yet, there weren’t enough students, and it was failing. Kostka School was created two years ago, and we now have over 300 applicants! We regularly update our website. The website has lots of information about the school. We have information about our Jesuit philosophy, and the application comes up in March. Students have until the end of April to apply. Students will come in very soon, in July, to see if they are accepted.

So the premise of this school is to mix lower income students with wealthier students from farther away. How do the students from this local district and those from far away integrate?

Correct, this school has a mix of many students from this area around Kostka who are from single-family households and difficult situations at home. There are also students here from typically wealthier backgrounds that are very high achieving students who live farther away. We began with 60 percent of students from this district—our minimum quota—and 40 percent from another district. So far, the integration has gone great. It is good to bring in students from other districts. This is an opportunity for students from this district to meet new children. Also, these children are very good students, so their example motivates some of the lower performing students and pulls up the overall performance level of the school for all students. For many students, coming to school is an opportunity to forget about the issues that they have. Students love coming to school, and that is the biggest joy being here at Kostka.

What is different in the curriculum at Kostka compared to other schools?

The program is the same here as other public schools. We have religion class in school, but that is the same as in other public schools in Poland. There are also unique parts. We start with prayer lead by students in the morning when the whole school is together. There are masses at different parts of the year, but they are not obligatory. We teach Catholic, Jesuit values here but are very careful not to force the religion. We are very sensitive to the fact that there are students from other religions, and all have the opportunity to opt out of religious services like mass.

What challenges does Kostka face?

There are definitely many challenges at this school. The greatest joy, though, is that students want to be here. One challenge is that as part of our model, the students are here from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Classes are from 8 a. m. to 3 p.m., but students are allowed to come early and also to stay after classes—called Kostka Magis. These are additional classes offered after school for tutoring. Also, there are other activities like art and sports that we have for students according to their interests. Sometimes students get very tired, but they benefit very much from the extra work.

There are also problems with behavior. Many of our students from lower income areas, this district outside around Kostka, come from families that have drug and alcohol problems. One in three students here come from single-parent families, and others have other difficulties at home. One good thing is that mothers can have a good relationship with the staff and want the teachers to help bring up their children.

Basically, there is a lot of support offered to students and families because it is a challenging school academically. We push the students to raise their performance to high standards, and at the end of the year when grades are given, they know that all grades are merit-based only. They know that they need to put in hard work. Roughly 20 percent of the students get the American equivalent of “As” while 10 percent did not pass and need to retake the class or the year.

This school’s approach and mission is very unique. Are there any special programs or trainings set up for the teachers so they may best perform at this school?

The majority of the teachers at Kostka worked in this same school building here before when it was a failing school. Since this school became Kostka, many of these teachers have had the opportunity to develop with time. There has been a huge improvement in their performance as they are now affiliated with this school that is so different from before. The teachers associate with this school and say that they are proud of it. Other teachers have heard about this school and are interested in working here. We were just doing interviews today for seven positions that we have open, and we have a few hundred applicants. While there is no single criteria we’re looking for, we do generally want a younger team so that they get a chance to develop. We also have some older teachers who can serve as great mentors.

What do you think the Jesuit identity means to teachers at this school?

Kostka Academy is rooted in the 400 years of Jesuit teaching pedagogy. It is a different type of public school and very unique because it is a public charter school that is run by Jesuits. This is different and exciting and attracts people from the outside. Teachers who work here are able to teach at a high performing school while also giving back to the neighborhood. While this school is rooted in Jesuit ethos, there are only two Jesuits out of a teaching staff of 21, but all teachers here truly understand the Jesuit ethos. While there are a number of schools like this model in Krakow by other religious orders, this is the first one of this type run by Jesuits. The ethos at this school is that the student is always the most important part. Our entire faculty knows that it is not teachers and school directors but rather students who must succeed. Only time will tell how well we succeed.

Does this school receive any extra funding from the government?

No. We have gotten sponsors, but this is done by the work of Fr. Pawel. For example, the school is undergoing many renovations right now—this is all from private funding.

Are there measurable successes in Kostka? If so, what?

We have only been open one full school year, so it is a little too early to tell exactly. We do know that students love to come to school—which is the greatest joy and most important. We hope to do mock examinations soon to gauge scores of students.

This is a gimnazjum, but what efforts are taken to see that students will succeed once they are finished with this school?

In Poland, once students are done with gimnazjum they may go to vocational school or to a regular high school that will prepare them for university. Students are able to make this choice based on the results of an examination. Our goal is to perhaps one day make this into a joint middle school and high school so students could go here all the way through the age of 18. For now, Kostka is just gimnazjum. Even at this level, we have one pre-orientation program to teach students about options for their future. We try to help them figure out what they will study and what qualifications they will need to achieve those goals.
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