Producer: Jon Palfreman
Country,Year, Length, Format: U.S., 1999, 98 min., Beta SP
Presentd by: Jon Palfreman and Bernice Welchel
Print Source: Palferman Film Group, 24 Partridge Road, Lexington MA 02420
ph: 781.862.8212, email: kboisver@tiac.net

Screening:
Saturday, April 29th, 1:15 PM, Charles 1

Synopsis:
The Battle of City Springs features a year in the life of City Springs a failing Baltimore elementary school serving a poor, African American community. Mired in the educational equivalence of bankruptcy, City Springs is in danger of being shut down if it continues to fail. But this year, there is some hope. City Springs is one of a dozen schools introducing a radical and controversial cirriculum called Direct Instruction. Will this new cirriculum and the determination of its tough new principal Bernice Welchel, be enough to turn City Springs around? Or are the problems just too great to overcome in one year? Shot on state-of-the-art light weight video equipment, this verite documentary presents a uniquely intimate portrait of a school that serves as a microcosm of the crisis facing American education.

Tidbit:

Bio:
Formerly a Senior Producer at WGBH in Boston and the BBC in London, Jon Palfreman has produced over 40 hour-long documentaries including episodes of Nova and Frontline. Palfreman's career has involved many award-winning films and series no science and technology, including the Peabody Award-Winning The Machine that Changed the World about the history of computers and the Emmy Award-Winning Nova episode, "Siamese Twins."