‘They’ll Find Their Way’

Posted Aug 20, 2008 by Steven Girardi

Updated Aug 20, 2008 at 01:36 PM

As the school day draws to a close in Clearwater, Bayside High School Principal Patricia LaVoy Fuller, despite complications with finding spaces for school buses, is pleased.

“They are all very happy to be back to school,” she says of her students at this alternative high school. “The kids who are here are here for the right reason.”

Bayside is beginning its fifth year today. It is the school across the street from the Pinellas County Courthouse on 49th Street. The school is a place that has become a refuge for youngsters who otherwise might not have a chance at education. They come by choice, many with problems at home or a history of chronic truancy. Some simply did not mesh with conventional schools.

“We design a program to help them graduate,” Fuller said. “They get hope and purpose – and they graduate.”

The school has a few more than 300 students enrolled this year, she said. On the first day, about 225 of them made it.

“But they’ll be here,” Fuller said, smiling. “They’ll find their way.”

The students range from 14 to 21 years of age and are in grades nine to 12. They get four courses of study a day, in small classes taught by about 30 teachers who are committed to helping them. Fuller is in her third year here and says she doesn’t want to be anywhere else.

“These were kids who otherwise wouldn’t graduate. They need a second chance,” she said.

So far, she says, 225 of them have made it since the school opened.

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St. Pete’s Tyrone Elementary On The Move

Posted Aug 20, 2008 by Steven Girardi

Updated Aug 20, 2008 at 12:18 PM

About 640 youngsters, along with teachers and administrators, made a smooth return to Tyrone Elementary School in St. Petersburg today, but no one is getting too comfortable.

That’s because in about 3 ½ months they’ll get to do it all again.

The 50-year-old school is shutting down for the Thanksgiving holiday break and will reopen at a new place with a new name when children return for classes Dec. 1.

It’s 4.1 miles away, said Principal Sandra Kemp, who obviously has traced the route many times. “Our staff has been looking forward to moving for quite some time. We’re excited.”

The staff has taken several field trips to the new school, at 3901 37th St. N., which will be called New Heights Elementary – a name chosen by a committee based on suggestions from school people.

The new campus has six buildings on two floors and modern upgrades for technology. The current campus has 13 buildings spread across the grounds and connected by covered walkways, typical of 1950s school construction.

For now, teachers are keeping half of their classroom materials in boxes.  They’re only taking out what they need for the first half of the year, Kemp said.

Later, all of it will be boxed and labeled for movers, and all the stuff is supposed to be there for us to unpack at the new school, Kemp said.

Despite the inconvenience, no one is complaining.

“I’m excited. I’ve never worked in a new school,” teacher Diana Lare said.

Lare teaches children with autism spectrum disorder and is taking videos of the new building to prepare them for the big move.

“For them, they need the routines,” she said. “So we’ll bring it to them about a month before and we’ll look at it every day or every other day.”

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Tarpon Springs Goes High Tech

Posted Aug 20, 2008 by Chip Osowski

Updated Aug 20, 2008 at 02:17 PM

Tarpon Springs Elementary, 555 E. Pine St., is one of three new replacement schools in the county. 

It’s a $24.6 million complex that has high tech everything—computers in each classroom, for starters.

It’s also one of the first green schools in the county, which means its operating systems are environmentally friendly.

Everything seemed to go off without a hitch this morning as parents and buses dropped the students off.

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North Ward Elementary Does It Old School

Posted Aug 20, 2008 by Steven Girardi

Updated Aug 20, 2008 at 11:53 AM

At 8:15 a.m., Principal Sandra Cowley is directing traffic outside North Ward Elementary School in Clearwater, something the school’s first principal didn’t need to do in 1915, when all children walked to school.

North Ward, an actual red brick schoolhouse with polished wood floors, high ceilings and radiators, is the county’s oldest operating school at 93 years. Cowley has been here two of those years and never wants to leave.

With 320 students, it’s more like a family reunion when children come back to school

“It’s very nice,” said Cowley, as she pauses while greeting parents and students. “By the time the kids get to the fifth grade, the teachers know them. And they know the teachers.”

Inside, second-graders in Terri McLemore’s classroom, one of several overlooking Clearwater Harbor, sit quietly at attention, their eyes focused on her. This is it, children, summer’s over. Back to the daily grind. They’re veterans now.

“They seem like high school friends,” McLemore said, noting how they’ve changed from a year ago.

Students everywhere are quiet. “This is so not normal,” said Terry Bouchard, a special education teacher. By tomorrow, she said, the noise and activity level will be back to normal.

Things are different at this school. There’s no central air conditioning. The cafeteria holds only three classes at a time. There is a single bathroom on each floor that boys and girls learn to share.

They stand at the doorway and call out, “Any boys in there?” or, “Any girls in there?” before entering. If all is clear, they flip over the sign on the door to signify boys or girls and proceed.

Teachers here wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s the best school in Pinellas County,” Bouchard said. “Anybody who walks in there wants to stay.”

Cowley and others here hope the school will remain open. South Ward Elementary, a few years older than this school and a few miles south, closed in 2007.

“We’ll be 100 years old in 2015,” Cowley said. “I hope we make it until then. We’ll have one heck of a celebration.”

More Photos From Pinellas County

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Bus Drivers Prepared For Challenges

Posted Aug 20, 2008 by Beth Gaddis

Updated Aug 20, 2008 at 07:46 AM

It’s the first day back to school for thousands of students in Pinellas County.  News Channel 8’s Chip Osowski is at Tarpon Springs Elementary to show us how bus drivers prepared for the challenge of transporting 46,000 students every day.

Watch The Video

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