The district, comprising 15 schools that form a ring around Copper Square, has initiated a campaign to polish its image and increase outreach to the business community.
The district runs from 27th Avenue to 16th Street and Osborn Road to Interstate 10, with no school more than a five-minute drive from downtown.
"Our reputation is poor, but we're trying to turn that around," said René X. Diaz, interim superintendent. "But part of that is lack of knowledge. People don't visit our schools, so they think they are rundown and not safe.
"We have some exceptional facilities," said Diaz, who retired as superintendent of the Phoenix Union High School District in 2001.
He reasons that if only a small percentage of the 40,000 people who work in the downtown corridor put their children in the district's schools, that would combat the problem of shrinking enrollment, now at 8,000.
Diaz believes the business community will benefit as well: Employees will be more likely to move into the city if educating their kids is not an issue. Those who commute will spend less time worrying about and dealing with children who often are more than half an hour away if they take advantage of the district's open enrollment.
Among the other advantages: The schools are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. There is all-day kindergarten and several Head Start programs. And the majority of students are required to wear uniforms, which many parents see as a plus.
Diaz also is looking for more engagement on the part of the business community, such as bringing in volunteers to provide role models for students, by tutoring or by helping with staff development. He, in turn, wants to eliminate the red tape that businesses often find when they try to help.
"It's part of the downtown revitalization," said Diaz. "What better way than by getting businesses involved in the schools?"
"I'm in absolute concurrence with the approach they're taking," said Brian Kearney, president and chief executive of Downtown Phoenix Partnership. "Having a strong educational system in the central city is a key ingredient for a successful revitalization strategy.
"It's a real positive step they're taking in reaching out to the business community in Copper Square, and I look forward to working with them," he said.
It's not all that different from steps taken to revive a lagging brand. The school district, which used to have as many as 12,000 students, has been losing pupils at the rate of 200 to 500 students a year for the past five years, according to Harry Garewal, an education expert who has been working as a consultant to the district.
Garewal, who was just named president and chief executive of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, helped come up with a number of marketing ideas to assist the school, including a magnet with the school calendar, a logo that includes district colors of copper and teal, and a slogan: "Phoenix Elementary School District and Copper Square -- In the Heart of It All."
The district hired Arvizu Advertising and Promotions of Phoenix to come up with a three-year marketing plan. Some of the marketing challenges are formidable: 11 of the 15 schools have been rated "underperforming" by the state and the district still has a long way to go to bring Stanford 9 scores up to the 50th percentile.
But a lot of the problem, according to Diaz, is perception.
"If you only use test scores to measure the success of a school, then we're not successful," he said. "But tests are only one indicator."
He said the schools' scores continue to improve, and there are other aspects to consider, such as the quality of their after-school program and other programs that add to the quality of school life.
Diaz also recorded a number of public-service announcements with Univision that will start airing in July.
He pointed out that the district's Magnet Traditional School has scores that are among the highest in the state and compete with Paradise Valley.
"There's no reason other schools can't be doing the same thing," he said.
Diaz is hoping to enhance the reputation of the district's board of education as well.
"We want to have our board of education become a board of influence," he said. "Many of the members have been in this community a long, long time and can offer their expertise to state legislators, the city council and the chief executive officers with downtown businesses," he said.
I swiped this from the Business Journal, because they don't permit access to older articles.