Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
2002: The Year in Review
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 29, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- They got their names in the summer of 2001: Douglas Jamerson Elementary, James B. Sanderlin Elementary and Thurgood Marshall Middle School.
The School Board gave them their descriptions in May: a math and engineering focus, a primary years International Baccalaureate program and a fundamental approach.
But it wasn't until the district named their principals that the three new St. Petersburg schools found their direction.
Robert Poth, Denise Miller and Joan Minnis, principals at Ridgecrest Elementary School and Center for Gifted Studies, Clearview Avenue Elementary and Garrison-Jones Elementary, were hired Sept. 4 to lead the schools that were created as part of a settlement with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to end court-ordered busing for desegregation. The schools will open in August 2003.
The new principals officially take over Jan. 6, but they already have met a challenge unique in the history of Pinellas public school education: They have recruited their pupils under the district's new "controlled choice" student assignment plan.
In the past, students were automatically assigned to schools based on the neighborhoods in which they lived. Under Choice, parents chose schools for their children for 2003 during an application period that ran from September until mid December.
All schools had to market themselves, but it was more difficult for the new schools because they had no existing populations on which to build. Jamerson and Sanderlin temporarily house students from schools that are being rebuilt, and Thurgood Marshall is still under construction. The new principals communicated word of their unique programs to parents through discovery nights, school tours and "meet and greets.".
The principals had to attract teachers as well as students. Poth and Miller hired their core teams and have scheduled trips to observe similar programs in South Carolina, Texas and South Florida. Minnis expects to finish screening core team applicants by mid January and plans to observe middle school programs similar to Thurgood Marshall's in Pasco and Sarasota counties.
In February, after the district finishes matching students to schools throughout the county, Poth, Miller and Minnis will know how many additional teachers they need to hire. They also will begin establishing relationships with parents of incoming students and building what Poth calls "the culture of the school" by making families feel a part of things from the ground up.
He offered an engineering analogy appropriate to all three schools.
"You're in your office and you've created this design, like a blueprint," he said. "You take a look at your creation and know it's time to start building what's on paper. That's the stage we're at."