Transformed school tries to keep neighborhood ties
Campbell Park must attract students from near and far despite the end of a federal grant.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published March 24, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - For years, Campbell Park Elementary School was known as "one of the best kept secrets" in the Pinellas school district.
Nestled between busy 16th Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street on Seventh Avenue S, the school drew many of its 350 students from the neighborhood. Many of the students' parents had attended the school. Administrators knew the name of every child.
All of that began to change with the advent of "controlled choice," the student assignment system the district implemented at the beginning of this school year to replace court-ordered busing for desegregation.
Now, the "small neighborhood school" stands at a crossroads. An infusion of money from a multimillion-dollar federal grant has transformed it into what the district calls an "attendance area magnet school." A brand-new building more than twice the size of the original school has the capacity to hold nearly 800 students. And a new way of teaching distinguishes it from other elementary schools.
The question now is, can Campbell Park continue to be successful as a neighborhood school while it reaches out to attract children from throughout the attendance area?
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In 2000, the Pinellas school district chose three schools it thought might have difficulty keeping students they already had and attracting new ones under the controlled choice plan. The district applied for a $6.9-million federal grant, spread over three years, to help the schools develop "attractors."
It was decided that Gulfport Elementary School would become a Montessori school. Maximo Elementary would become a "microsociety" emphasizing economics. Campbell Park would become a marine science center.
At the same time, the district dedicated money to build larger facilities for the three schools. Campbell Park was completely rebuilt at a cost of $11.5-million, expanding from 2.7 acres to 10 acres. The school's capacity increased to 772 students.
Last year, while the students were housed in temporary quarters in what is now Jamerson Elementary School at 1200 37th St. S, the internal changes began.
The grant helped pay for substitute teachers one day a month so that the classroom teachers could spend time on professional development. Rather than relying on textbooks, the teachers began creating their own lesson plans based on the standards the state requires students to learn. Instead of designing activities and then trying to figure out which standards they met, the teachers let the activities emerge from the lesson plans.
Perhaps most important, the teachers integrated reading, math, science and world language so that the subjects flowed together. Then they tied everything together with the marine science theme.
Next came the introduction of integrated thematic instruction. Relying on brain-based research that indicates children learn best in a stress-free environment, teachers began "decluttering" their classrooms, removing bulletin boards and posters that could serve as distractions. Instead of arranging the students' desks in rows, they grouped children together in "tribes" and encouraged them to develop a sense of community in the classroom.
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Not all of the teachers approved of the changes. Some left. But Shahtia Gay-Hairston, who came to Campbell Park after graduating in May 2002 from Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C., found it liberating to create her own curriculum. She enjoyed the challenge of merging the marine science theme with reading, math and world language. Best of all, she discovered that her fifth-graders were coming to school excited about learning.
One student, 12-year-old Kris Dominger, stopped telling his mother he was sick to escape coming to school. He hasn't missed a day of school all year.
A December assessment showed across-the-board improvement in student achievement over the previous December. Although the classroom and curriculum changes were still being launched last year, Campbell Park principal Jim Steen thinks they contributed to the school's state grade rising from a D to a B.
Now the challenge is ensuring that the school, which has the capacity to grow to nearly twice its current enrollment of 436, continues to be attractive to families in the neighborhood.
"I've been there so long I've been able to cultivate relationships in the community," he said.
Another challenge, Steen said, will be sustaining the positive changes when the grant runs out at the end of this school year.
Tessie Dickson, a consultant who came to Campbell Park two years ago to coordinate curriculum, said such schoolwide change normally takes three to five years. "We're at a crucial point right now," she said. "We've got the standards, but now we need the implementation piece. I'm not sure where the money will come from."
Although federal money makes things easier, grant administrator Charlene Einsel said, schools across the county are making changes without it. Many rely on community partnerships. But she said the type of schoolwide change that has occurred at Gulfport, Maximo and Campbell Park is difficult.
That's why Steen has been busy cementing relationships with the school's partners, which include the Pier Aquarium and the University of South Florida. He also has been cultivating a new "benefactor" who may step in and subsidize the program.
"The challenge now is to sustain our program. That's going to be major," Steen said.
