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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