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Our Schools

Schools achieve high point totals

By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published August 25, 2006

Every year the state grades public schools A through F and distributes the report cards for everyone to see. What it hasn't done in the past is talk about the underlying numbers. Who made a high A on the 600-point scale? Who made a low D?

This year, the state released lists of the A schools with the highest point totals. Several Hillsborough schools made the cut.

Bevis Elementary in Lithia had the most points among all Hillsborough schools, with 525. It ranked 12th among Florida elementary schools. Also in the top 100 elementary schools were Gorrie 23rd, Pride and Mabry (tied for 35th), McKitrick (53rd), Westchase (56th), Claywell (77th) and Maniscalco (93rd).

Wilson Middle in Tampa was the highest-scoring Hillsborough middle school. With 508 points, it ranked seventh statewide. Also in the top 75 were Martinez (23rd), Walker (27th), Randall (34th), Coleman (42nd), Burns (50th) and Liberty (69th).

Three county high schools made the top 50 - Plant at No. 34, Newsome at No. 45 and Sickles at No. 47. And two local "combination" schools that span traditional grade levels made the top 50 - Terrace Community Middle was ninth, and Learning Gate Community was 39th.

The state has no plans to release a list of the lowest-scoring schools. A quick review finds some Hillsborough schools at the bottom, too. The worst, a now-closed Central City Elementary charter school, earned 100 points and logged in at No. 37 from the bottom among 2,849 schools. Also in the bottom 150: Just Elementary, Washington Elementary, Cahoon Elementary, Oak Park Elementary, Carl Sagan Academy and East Bay High School.

Superintendent MaryEllen Elia has placed these and other schools on her watch list and put together a team and an improvement plan for each.

* * *

Want to go to college? Representatives from universities and colleges all over the state and country will be out recruiting Hillsborough's finest next week at county-organized fairs. The dates and locations are:

* Monday, Sickles High School, 7950 Gunn Highway.

* Tuesday, Plant High School, 2415 S Himes Ave.

* Wednesday, Brandon High School, 1101 Victoria St.

* Thursday, Chamberlain High School, 9401 N Boulevard.

Each event begins at 6 p.m.

* * *

If you care about where your child attends school - and from what we've seen in past months, what parent doesn't? - here's the list you've been waiting for: the 23 schools that most concern the school district's capacity advisory council.

They are Chiles, DeSoto, Hunter's Green, Jackson, Miles, Nelson, Pizzo, Potter, Pride, Schmidt, Shaw, Valrico and Witter elementary schools; Davidsen, Farnell, Marshall, Mulrennan, Tomlin and Walker middle schools; and Chamberlain, Durant, Plant City and Sickles high schools.

New attendance boundaries aren't certain. The advisory council, chaired by Westchase Elementary principal Joyce Wieland and William Thomas of the Improvement League of Plant City, is open to other ideas. Two that pop to mind, usually to be dismissed quickly, are double sessions and sending students, in shifts, 12 months a year.

But just in case, the advisory council also released its list of 20 schools with room to spare. They are B.T. Washington, Clark, Foster Academy, Heritage, James, Kenly, Kingswood, Knights, Lake Magdalene, Mabry, Riverview, Temple Terrace, Town & Country and Yates elementary schools; Mann, McLane, Pierce and Webb middle schools; and King and Leto high schools.

Have any stories about how crowding affects your family? Or any good ideas for fixing this problem? Send us an e-mail or letter.

Staff writer Letitia Stein contributed to this report. Have ideas for future columns? Contact Jeffrey S. Solochek at solochek@sptimes.com or (813) 269-5304.

[Last modified August 24, 2006, 08:20:03]