Schools must find niche that will draw students

By KELLY RYAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 11, 2000

In search of an identity, teachers and administrators at Lakewood High School took a good, long look at themselves. They quickly focused in on their strengths: the school's 5-acre outdoor classroom, well-appointed computer labs, partnerships with local environmental experts.

The self-analysis inspired a program that begins this fall for ninth-graders: an environmental technology focus for students who want to one day land jobs as park rangers, marine biologists or marine patrol officers.

"We looked at where we were located and what we have here," said English teacher Claudia Maynard. "We looked at what things would interest kids and at the job market."

In the not-so-distant future, all Pinellas County schools are expected to follow Lakewood High's lead.

Within three years, every elementary, middle and high school will be required to identify its selling points and develop and market a specialty program to attract students. This districtwide marketing initiative coincides with a change in the way students will be assigned to schools.

The School Board and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund have agreed to settle a 1964 court case that led to court-ordered busing for desegregation. As part of that agreement, students will no longer be assigned to schools based primarily on their home address.

Instead, beginning in fall 2003, the county will be divided into attendance areas and students will select schools within their area.

District leaders envision parents having a wide range of choices to make -- from foreign-language immersion schools to those that focus on creative writing or urban studies.

Though little public attention has been paid so far to helping schools pick their so-called attractors, the concept is a key component in the district's quest to end forced busing and race ratios in schools in 2007.

District leaders hope that the specialty programs will inspire some parents to bypass neighborhood schools and choose those far from home. In a county where most black and white families live apart, that could keep schools integrated after ratios end.

"We're not looking at reinventing what we're already doing," said Jim Madden, the district's top administrator in charge of post-busing plans. "We're not looking for outlandish programs at every school. What we're looking at is how we can make sure schools are not underselected."

This fall, a committee of principals, School Board members, parents and district curriculum specialists will begin meeting to chart out how schools should approach this process.

The committee will devise guidelines describing how to select and market a program, an attempt to make sure that schools with wealthy PTAs or ample discretionary budgets don't have an unfair advantage over schools that can't afford to print glossy brochures.

Superintendent Howard Hinesley said some money -- likely from federal and state grants -- will be available for schools who need to study special programs, train teachers or buy equipment. How much money schools can count on and which schools will be eligible have not been decided.

Some principals are slowly getting started assessing their schools. Before school ended in June, some made to-do lists of physical changes to make their campus more attractive, from painting walls to replacing window treatments.

Some won't need to do much more than tidy up.

Take schools that consistently perform well on state tests, have support from parents or who already offer extended-year schedules or specialty curriculums, such as the marine science focus at Madeira Beach Middle School. Those schools, many in northern Pinellas County, aren't likely to have to beg for students to fill their classrooms.

Hinesley is more worried about southern Pinellas County, where two new schools are being built and four schools are being expanded.

That's where all of the county's D-graded schools are and where maintaining race ratios is the biggest challenge -- and where the district is banking on white parents to send their children, even if they'll be in the minority.

Hinesley has met already with Jim Steen, principal of Campbell Park Elementary School, who is working on a partnership with the University of South Florida. He plans to work hand-in-hand with principals from other targeted schools, such as Fairmount Park Elementary and Gulfport Elementary, which, like Campbell Park, are being expanded.

Helping schools in the district's predominantly black neighborhoods find success is a must, Hinesley said. If enough white parents choose those schools, fewer students will have to be bused into those neighborhoods to meet race ratios that will last through 2007.

"My goal is to, as much as I possibly can, influence the attractors in south county," Hinesley said. "My goal is to do the best we can to reduce any kind of forced attendance."

Lakewood High, like several other schools starting attractor programs this fall, is ahead of the game.

This fall, only ninth-graders zoned to attend the high school, on 54th Avenue S in St. Petersburg, will be allowed to participate in the environmental technology program. Assistant principal Thomas Hatton said about 30 students are signed up. Within four years, all grades will able to participate.

Hatton and the teachers who will work with the environmental technology program say that they think average students will excel in a setting that combines rigorous academics with a chance to play outside, get their hands dirty and work with professional scientists.

With similar creative thinking, Tarpon Springs High this fall is starting a music conservatory. Dunedin and Osceola high schools are starting back-to-basics programs, modeled after highly popular fundamental schools.

All four high schools say they are answering a community demand. That's just what the schools are supposed to do, though most won't have their attractors running until 2002.

"Because of the reputation of the county, I think it's a very easy thing to do to market your school," said Anthony Reidy, principal of Clearwater's Sandy Lane Elementary School, who's mum on what kind of attractor he is pursuing. "I think we have an opportunity to do some really different things for the community."

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