Two schools, one vision: Ames Elementary may be badly ailing, but a veteran St. Paul educator is intent on seeing it replicate the successes of a high-achieving school for gifted and talented students.

Byline: Doug Belden

Dec. 26--The contrast couldn't be more stark. Capitol Hill Gifted and Talented Magnet is the St. Paul school district's only five-star school, the state's highest designation. Students have to pass a test to get in at most grades, and there are frequently waiting lists. The student body is among the richest and whitest in the city. Ames Elementary is the city's only four-year underperformer, one step away from having to plan for restructuring under federal law. It is an East Side neighborhood school drawing a population that's more than 80 percent minority and low-income. What the two schools have in common is Delores Henderson, a longtime St. Paul principal who pioneered the district's gifted and talented magnet program roughly 20 years ago and now, in her fifth year at Ames, is trying to remake that school in Capitol Hill's image.

Henderson, who declines to give her age but says she was eligible to retire five years ago, has called in favors and pulled former colleagues out of retirement to join her on a mission: to show that the city's least-advantaged children can succeed as well as the most privileged if given the chance. "I believe every child has a gift and every child is talented," said Henderson, a formidable presence who walks the halls at Ames checking in with students by name and even intervening in classrooms if she sees a student acting up. She says…