The first letter grades for the county's three newest schools weren't what everyone hoped.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published June 16, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - Pinellas County's three new schools have their first letter grades from the state. One got a B, one got a C, and one got a D.
Built south of Central Avenue at a combined cost of $32.7-million, the schools have been heralded as the harbingers of success for the district's new "controlled choice" method of student assignment.
Of schools generally in the St. Petersburg attendance area, Douglas L. Jamerson Jr. was one of 13 elementaries that received a B, while James B. Sanderlin was the only elementary school that received a D. Thurgood Marshall Fundamental was one of five middle schools that earned a C.
They also got their first evaluations based on the federal government's No Child Left Behind guidelines. None of the new schools made "adequate yearly progress" under that standard.
In an era when parents have more school choice, and when many look to a school's grade on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test as a measure of its success, how important are these initial grades for the new schools?
For Sanderlin principal Denise Miller, receiving a D was like deja vu. That was the grade Clearview Avenue Elementary received in 2000, the first year she was principal there.
"I immediately called a meeting," she said. "We made a very specific plan with the core team. Where I am today, it's not as simple as that. I can't just say, "We need to concentrate on math.' "
Among the challenges Miller faced this past year as principal of a new school was identifying the children who were struggling and tailoring programs for them. Unlike schools that have been in existence for years, she had little data to guide her.
"Our children came from a variety of places," she said. "Some were from private schools, some were homeschooled. At the fourth- and fifth-grade level, only two-thirds of the children were even in Pinellas County schools last year. We literally had to assess every single child."
Her staff also had to expend energy on "building a culture."
"That environmental piece has a huge impact on how kids perform," she said. "If kids feel safe and happy, if they feel challenged, you just have a different result."
Despite the weight many parents give a school grade, Miller said she doubts the D will dissuade parents from choosing Sanderlin. She said parents will see the value in Sanderlin's Primary Years International Baccalaureate Program, an inquiry-based method that stimulates children's creativity.
"I believe that the parents who really search out and find this school to be a match for their child are going to look beyond a single grade," she said. "Those parents who are really interested in what we're doing will see it as just one more piece of data. They're going to look at the big picture."
Jamerson Elementary principal Robert Poth agreed with Miller that the school grade is just one piece of the puzzle, but said he is relieved his school, which has a math and engineering focus, got a B.
"I'm pleased. This is a wonderful beginning for Jamerson," he said. "Our children did a lot of learning. I think the grade reflects that."
While the grade may validate his teachers' and students' efforts, he said he thinks Jamerson would have continued to attract children regardless.
"I think some of the best parts of our school, such as music and art, aren't graded," he said. "Our engineering component is wonderful, but it's not reflected on the report card."
Poth said he couldn't explain why Jamerson earned a B while Sanderlin earned a D.
"Even though Jamerson and Sanderlin started in the same place, the 500 kids we had and the 500 Denise had are all individual children," he said. "It's not as cut and dried as looking at statistics. The challenges she had were not the same ones I had, and the ones I had were not the same ones she had. Once the school bell rang, we were off on our own tracks."
Alex Epanchin, the district's testing coordinator, said there is no simple explanation why the two schools earned such disparate grades.
"I wouldn't hazard a guess," he said. "I've never put stock in school grades. I think they oversimplify what schools are responsible for."
Thurgood Marshall principal Joan Minnis was unavailable for comment Tuesday.
QUICK FACTS
Half of Pinellas high schools got D's, by far their worst grades ever.
Among elementaries, only half as many St. Petersburg attendance area schools got A's as last year.
Among St. Petersburg middle schools, more than half got C's. Last year, only one scored that low.
No high school got a B.
East Lake and Palm Harbor University were the only high schools to earn A's.
