Principals say commitment from staff boosted grades

School scores improved also because of special programs before and after school, principals say.

By LOGAN D. MABE

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 2, 2000

Amid all the hoopla surrounding the overall good grades posted by Hillsborough County schools last year were a handful of small success stories.

In northern Hillsborough, five elementary schools and two middle schools made great leaps up the grade chart, the way in which the state determines a school's effectiveness.

Bellamy, Essrig, Hunter's Green, Lake Magdalene and Northwest elementaries all saw their marks rise two full grades from C to A. Benito Middle School went from a B to an A, and Walker Middle School rose from a C to a B.

How did they do it? The methods varied slightly from school to school, but determination and concentration were common themes.

"How'd we do it? Hard work," said Kathleen Flanagan, principal at Walker Middle in Odessa. "A lot of enthusiasm, and the whole faculty pitching in. Everybody from custodians to secretaries, everybody had a piece of it. Even our PE teachers."

Flanagan pointed to the countywide Extended Learning Program, an after-school remedial program that helped failing students catch up throughout the school year as an important factor. But the little things helped, too.

For instance, students designed a school T-shirt with the motto, "Focus, Concentrate and Try Your Best." Teachers wore the shirts every day during the FCAT testing week.

"So the kids were jazzed," she said.

Lynn Rattray, principal at Bellamy Elementary, gave all the credit to her teachers. "My staff is my greatest asset," Rattray said. "They had a job to do and they did it."

At Bellamy, the focus was on bringing up the math scores, and teachers also refined the school-wide writing plan.

"We really are tweaking the way we educated children," Rattray said. "We're teaching children how to think and that they need to be responsible for what they think. The correct answer isn't enough anymore. They have to show us how they got to that answer."

Liz Brandt, principal at Essrig Elementary, said teachers at her school targeted what it would take to get an A and then shot for that mark. "More than anything, it was focusing on the basics: reading, writing and math," Brandt said. "And I think the key was training. Our teachers received training all year round in the best ways to do that."

It wasn't just teachers, Brandt said. Students and parents also felt the urgency to perform.

"I think the pressure within the school community, both with the children and staff and administration, was felt," she said. "We knew we weren't a C school last year and it hurt to be categorized as such."

At Hunter's Green Elementary, principal Barbara Hancock had a checklist of reasons why her school went from a C to an A.

Staff performance, the Extended Learning Program, a before-school "Breakfast Club" for students needing extra help, and a helping hand from school volunteers all contributed to the effort, Hancock said.

"A lot of it was just a clear focus," she said. "We continued to do the same things we did the year before, but we were consistently diagnosing what the kids' needs were and changing the curriculum to meet those needs. We felt a little defeated (the previous) year. We know this is a great school, but we just rose to the occasion and we'll continue to do so."

At Benito Middle School, scoring an A was just a matter of getting more kids to school every day. "It was a matter of fine-tuning," said principal Lewis Brinson. "The first year, we missed being an A school because of our attendance, so that was a primary focus this past year, along with continuing all the other academic things we've done in the past."

The challenge at Benito was making school fun, a formidable task at the middle school level.

"I think that if you connect students to your school and make learning fun, then they want to be here," Brinson said.

Now, the biggest challenge facing all of the schools will be maintaining their lofty status.

"Everybody realizes that when you reach the top of the mountain, where do you go from there?" said Hunter's Green's Hancock.

- To reach Logan D. Mabe, call 226-3464 or e-mail him at mabe@sptimes.com.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.