Glass half-full

A new elementary school in Midtown has attracted too few students and not met racial ratios. But does that trouble the principal? Not at all.

By DONNA WINCHESTER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 23, 2003

ST. PETERSBURG -- Denise Miller knows that the first person she says hello to each morning when she arrives at Sanderlin Elementary School will never return her greeting.

James B. Sanderlin, the man who filed the federal lawsuit that desegregated Pinellas schools and became the county's first black judge, died in 1990. But Miller believes his memory lives on in the school that bears his name.

That's why she pauses for a moment at his portrait before she starts her day.

"My secretary thinks I'm crazy, but I feel like he's here," she said. "He's watching over us. I'm certain of it."

Miller left Clearview Avenue Elementary in January to become principal at Sanderlin, 2350 22nd Ave. S. One of three schools created as part of a settlement with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to end court-ordered busing for desegregation, the elementary school is housing Gulfport Elementary children while their school is being rebuilt. It will open with its own population in August.

"There are so many things you don't think about until you are in these shoes, from ordering furniture to hiring a staff," Miller said. "You go to reach for something and remember, 'Oh, I don't have that.' "

Her first challenge was marketing the school to parents under the district's new "controlled choice" plan. In the past, students were automatically assigned to schools based on their neighborhoods. The new assignment plan is allowing parents more options in choosing a school for their children. All schools had to attract students, but because Sanderlin has no existing population on which to build, Miller had to recruit her students from scratch in a series of discovery nights and school tours.

Compounding her challenge was the task of describing the school's "Primary Years International Baccalaureate" theme. Put simply, it is a liberal arts curriculum with a hands-on approach to learning that encourages children to ask questions. It is administered by the same organization that oversees high school International Baccalaureate programs, but it is a good fit for all children regardless of their skills or talents, Miller said.

Now that the district has matched students' choices with schools, Miller has a new challenge. The $10.6-million school, which has space for 651 students, attracted only 259 children. Sixty-nine percent are black, far more than the 42 percent maximum allowed under the federal court order. That means a large number of nonblack children -- who may or may not want to attend the school -- must be recruited.

Miller is not concerned about either statistic.

"We still have a large number of kids who need to be placed," she said, referring to the approximately 8,000 children whose parents did not fill out a choice application. "My job is about teaching and learning. I have no doubt that in a very short period of time, we're going to have a waiting list, and it's going to be very hard to get into the school."

The district has assured her that she will open the school with about 425 students. She realizes that some of them will need to be convinced that Sanderlin is the right place for them. She plans to hold a family night after the additional children have been assigned. In the meantime, she is continuing school tours for parents who have concerns about their assignments.

She is certain that once parents find out about the school, they will be happy to have their children there.

But despite the obvious challenges, Miller says what she has struggled with most since leaving Clearview is a lack of "kid contact." She asked one of the Gulfport teachers last week if she could sit in on one of her reading groups just to be near some children.

"I spent about 30 minutes in her classroom," she said. "I didn't interfere. I just sat and soaked in kids for a little while."

She also trailed after the Gulfport children when they trooped outside recently for a fire drill. She chalks her "weakness" up to the years she spent as a classroom teacher before she became a principal. She says it is what motivates her to rise each morning at 5:30 and remain at school until after 8 in the evenings.

"We're charting new waters. We're making history while we're doing this," she said. "But we have every confidence that when you believe, great things will come from it."

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