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Schools

Southside Fundamental racking up achievements

From student achievements to parent involvement to test scores, the fundamental school is raising the bar.

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published April 3, 2005

You're likely to see them wherever bright kids gather.

Quiz Bowl? Southside Fundamental students consistently compete at the district meet.

Bookarama? Southside readers have been districtwide champs two of the last three years.

Math Mania? Southside wizards have brought the district trophy home three years in a row.

Four Southside students won first place this year at the Pinellas Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Two Southside teams are preparing for the state Odyssey of the Mind tournament in Orlando. And later this month, the school's band and chorus will perform at the Smoky Mountain Music Festival in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

What gives the cream-colored cinder block school built in 1926 the edge when it comes to academic and extracurricular activities? Those who have watched Southside over the years say the foundation for its success was laid in the early days and nurtured over the past quarter century until superior achievement has become synonymous with the school's name.

That legacy of success will be recognized April 30 when Southside celebrates its 25th anniversary as a fundamental middle school. Among those who plan to attend is Barbara Paonessa, the school's first principal.

"We knew that as the first year went, so would the rest of the life of Southside Fundamental," said Paonessa, who retired from the district in 2003. "We set down a very clear and consistent policy. Soon it was established that Southside was a school of kids who were very serious about their education, whether they were gifted, average or below average."

Southside Fundamental, originally known as Southside Junior High, was created in 1980 because elementary fundamental school parents saw a need for a middle school fundamental, Paonessa said. It served as the district's only fundamental middle school until 1995 when Coachman Fundamental opened in Clearwater.

In the beginning, the district was uncertain that a fundamental middle school would work, Paonessa said.

"It was kind of like, "Here's $35,000. Go out and find some students, convince some teachers to come here and start a fundamental school,' " she said. "If you can get 400 kids, you know it's a viable project."

The school was popular from the start, drawing children from as far north as Tarpon Springs in the era before computerized student assignment.

"In those days it was first come, first served," Paonessa said. "People used to come and pitch tents on the lawn in the middle of the night."

She recalls the first years as a little bumpy. The building was old. There were few books. There was no air conditioning.

"We had one film projector and a couple of overheads," she said. "It just goes to show you that the only things that are important are the teachers and the students, with the parents behind them."

Like other fundamental schools, Southside has a structured environment with a "back to basics" approach that stresses parental involvement with a focus on student self-responsibility and discipline, daily homework and a dress code that exceeds the district's. Students who do not meet the school's expectations are asked to leave.

Parents are required to join either the School Advisory Council or the PTA, attend regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences and sign off on homework. Current principal Patricia Wright credits the high level of parental involvement for keeping Southside head and shoulders above other middle schools.

"Some people think Southside is a magic school that has no concerns or issues," Wright said. "The magic part comes from the commitment from the students and the parents. The staff also is a vital part of what makes Southside so successful."

Southside students consistently score among the highest in the district on standardized tests. In 2004, 39 percent of the school's eighth-graders were above average in reading on the FCAT compared with a 21 percent district average. Sixty-one percent were above average in math, compared with a 26 percent district average. The school's FCAT science mean score was the highest in Pinellas.

The school has earned an A grade from the state for the past four years and was the only middle school to make adequate yearly progress in 2004.

The school is wildly popular, and applications always outnumber available seats. In the last application period, which determined who will attend Southside next year, nearly 400 children applied for 252 available seats.

Students who attend elementary fundamental schools have first dibs on sixth-grade seats, which makes it difficult for nonfundamental students to get in. And because it is rare for students to leave once they enter as sixth-graders, few seats are available for seventh- and eighth-graders.

Beyond academics, Southside students are committed to their community, Wright said. They collected more than $4,000 this year for lymphoma and leukemia research. They raised money for hurricane relief and played Santa to 10 Midtown families. They are presentlycurrently involved in a fundraiser for muscular dystrophy.

The children also supported the Midtown Strategic Planning Initiative this year through their involvement in a service learning project called Making Voices Heard, Wright said. The interactive project involved a creative writing class, a mass media class, an art class and an after school drama club that read and discussed works by and about individuals whose voices are seldom heard. With help from American Stage artists in residence, they wrote plays and performed them at the historic Royal Theater.

While Southside has the largest percentage of middle school students admitted to the Center for Advanced Technologies at Lakewood High and the International Baccalaureate program at St. Petersburg High School, many parents fret about what they see as a lack of options for their children once they leave middle school. After nine years of fundamental school education, they yearn for a comparable educational environment at the high school level.

The desire for a fundamental high school has existed for years, said Cathy Fleeger, an assistant superintendent in charge of high schools and a former Southside principal. A vocal group of fundamental elementary and middle school parents began meeting in March to discuss how to approach the School Board about establishing a true fundamental high school.

"I think there is a need perhaps," said Wright, the principal. "I know that sometimes when students leave the fundamental school and go to high school, they do have kind of a culture shock."

[Last modified April 3, 2005, 00:09:18]