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Neighborhood report

Elementary works hard to take F out of FCAT

Through weekly goals, creative instruction and Saturday classes, Just Elementary has embraced the challenge.

By ELISABETH DYER
Published February 10, 2006

Last year the state hung F grades like scarlet letters on three Hillsborough County elementary schools, Potter, Edison and Just.

Chasity Freeman, a fourth-grader at Just Elementary, 1315 W Spruce St., felt the sting.

"You hear people talk bad about us and say our school is an F school," the 11-year-old said. "It makes you feel hurt."

Not for principal Tricia McManus, who started at Just the day the school received its grade.

"From day one, I told them we are too good for this," she said. "Any time I talk about the F, I say we have been given a grade of F by the Department of Education, but we are not an F school, by any means."

Much hangs on their success, and staff and students are working hard to pull up the grade.

At repeat F schools, the state steps in and requires a change of administrators. Until the recent Florida Supreme Court ruling, students were eligible for vouchers to attend private schools if their public school failed twice in four years. Now the future of the program is unclear. No Hillsborough school has yet earned two F grades.

McManus believes this year's round of FCATs, which started this week for fourth-, eighth- and 10th-graders, will boost their score. In the front office, a photo of students hangs above the words: Success is the only option.

For students, FCAT scores can mean the difference between passing to the next grade or being held back.

Chasity feels the stress. In past years she froze and cried when faced with the FCAT essay question.

"They know the pressure is on," fifth-grade teacher Jill Bucholtz said. "You want a little bit of nervousness, but not too much. I look at it as a performance. If you're preparing for a concert, you're not just going to walk on stage without practicing."

Months of practice bolstered Chasity's confidence this year. Same with fifth-grader Herve Thelemaque.

"Most kids are scared to take FCAT, but I'm not," said Herve, who wants to make his mom proud and graduate to middle school.

Math and science resource teacher Darrell Frost came to Just in December 2004, a few months before last year's FCATs. "I knew we were sunk before we even set sail," he said. Slightly more than a dozen students were earning passing math scores.

Fortunately for Just, a significant portion of its FCAT score comes from how many students make learning gains from one year to the next.

"We have a lot of opportunity to grow," Frost said.

School administrators started the school year by analyzing last year's FCAT results, which showed most students were performing below grade level. They implemented a strong discipline code and a focus on academics.

"We don't mess around," McManus said. "We're not making valentines right now."

Administrators set weekly goals and came up with creative ways to reach them. Students come for Saturday classes, stay after school on Wednesdays and meet with mentors.

"We teach. We test. And then we reteach according to their needs," teacher Kim Mirza said.

McManus pulls each student in her office to study previous FCAT scores. She accentuates each student's strengths and sets a goal for this year's test. "I want them to have a buy-in and pride."

Chasity's teacher Mary Lauria came this year from Dunbar Elementary, a nearby magnet school, which has earned seven consecutive A's.

"I was one of those people who heard all the news, all the negatives, and I thought, "Now if I was over there, I might try this. I might try that.' So I'm trying it."

Elisabeth Dyer can be reached at edyer@sptimes.com or 813 226-3321.

- Feb. 27, 28 and March 1, third- through fifth-graders take reading and math sections.

- Feb. 27, sixth- through 10th-graders take reading sections.

- Feb. 28, sixth- through 10th-graders take math sections.

- March 6, fifth- and eighth-graders take science portion.

- March 7, fifth- and 11th-graders take science, and ninth- and 10th-graders take reading and math portions.

- March 8, third- through fifth-graders take reading and math.

[Last modified February 9, 2006, 09:10:11]