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Re-evaluate as child grows, gets older
By KIBRET MARKOS © St. Petersburg Times, published October 29, 2000 ST. PETERSBURG -- Barbara Williams sent her daughter, Lucy, to private schools in elementary and middle school, with classes as small as 12 students with two teachers. Individual attention for her daughter, and "experiential learning" (as opposed to "lecture learning") were what the mother expected from a school. In choosing a high school, however, Williams used different criteria. "We were looking for a school that could challenge her. Lucy no longer needed small classes. She had already developed strong self-confidence." After a thorough search among various magnets, Williams settled on the International Baccalaureate program at St. Petersburg High School. The 14-year-old now gets a lot less individual attention than she used to get in private schools. Some of her freshmen classes at St. Pete High have as many as 30 students. But Williams regards this more as a challenge to her daughter than as a discouraging factor. "This is a very demanding program, and it teaches students to succeed in a demanding environment." Williams also describes her daughter as a very good writer. The IB doesn't have a strong writing program, but Lucy's writing abilities will come in handy as she will be required to do substantial writing for reports, Williams said. At the elementary and middle school levels, Williams said she avoided magnets for her daughter. "A child in a magnet school has less exposure to the areas that the magnet does not focus on. There is specialization, and I didn't think it was a good idea for Lucy to specialize early." Neither was Williams impressed by fundamental schools. After a tour to one of them, she believed that the rules on discipline were "disrespectful" to the child. "They were controlling the kids, rather than teaching them to control themselves," she said. "Other parents on the tour actually liked the strict rules, but this was not the value that I wanted my daughter to have." Lucy has been in high school only a short time now. Her mother thinks it is too early to tell whether the choice was a right one. "She is happy for the most part. This is my daughter's first experience in public school, and I am impressed that she's handling the transition very well."
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