Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Six South Florida schools make complete turnaround
Students thrive with incentives, patience, positive reinforcement
There was a time when some students at Walker Elementary would get so violent they hit their teachers.
The principal’s office disciplined students at the F-ranked Fort Lauderdale school at least four or five times a day. And 20 percent of kids missed at least 18 days in one school year.
But Walker is turning itself around, and its transformation is a model for other schools embarking on similar efforts, said Superintendent Robert Runcie.
Six South Florida schools — three in Broward and three in Palm Beach County — launched makeovers this year as part of a state initiative that gives principals greater autonomy to improve student performance.
At Bethune Elementary in Hollywood, a new principal will ensure teachers get more training and that they better monitor individual student progress. She also kicked off the year with more events for parents to interact with staff and teachers.
The school lost 21 percent of its enrollment this year compared with last — the biggest hit of any school in the district.
“The challenge is to rebrand the school,” said Principal Latosha Williams. “Open house parent nights is a way to start the relationship so they know the doors are open.”
In Palm Beach County, the principal at Orchard View Elementary in Delray Beach is offering music lessons with string instruments, such as violin and cello. She also will open a program for gifted students, starting with kindergarten next year.
Other local “turn-around” schools are West Riviera Beach Elementary in Riviera Beach, Lake Shore Middle in Belle Glade, Park Lakes in Lauderdale Lakes and Village Elementary in Sunrise.
They are part of the initia-
tive approved by the state legislature in 2016, based on work at Walker and Park Ridge Elementary in Deerfield in 2015, Runcie said.
Broward at that time moved existing staff out of both schools, installed new principals and gave them the authority to hire who they determined fit the new vision of the school.
In the two years since, both shed “F” labels. Park Ridge landed a “C” and Walker climbed just a few points shy from it, achieving a 95 percent boost in its student achievement rating, said Principal Philip Bullock.
Walker students even took home championships in their first year of debate team.
“The kids were always able. They just didn’t have the opportunity,” Bullock said.
When he arrived, students shuffled through the hallway, their heads down to avoid eye contact with adults. They didn’t feel valued and had little respect for their teachers and themselves, he said.
They had few creative outlets: no art, no dance, no debate team. They didn’t even have a library — the school’s media center had morphed into a storage room after too many students neglected to return books they’d checked out.
But today, students hold their heads high through the hallway, grinning at the assistant principal on the way to class. They can select two major areas of study from art, drama, dance, chorus, physical education or band.
Their media center has shelves stocked with books on subjects such as dinosaurs, space discovery and art.
The principal’s office disciplines kids once or twice a week, a 70 percent dip over the past few years.
And only about 9 percent of kids missed at least 18 days last year.
The answer lay in preaching self-respect, positive reinforcement, incentives and patience, Bullock said.
He hired a media specialist who secured a grant to restock and reconstruct the library. He launched quarterly surveys so his teachers and staff could anonymously tell him what worked and what didn’t.
He brought in a full-time social worker and added days that a psychologist came to visit.
And he enlisted staff called “behavior techs” who sit with students to determine why they’re acting out in anger.
“Sometimes they’re just hungry,” Bullock said. “Sometimes it’s because they haven’t eaten since lunch the day before.”
So the school started offering breakfast to latecomers.
Students began learning about self-control and respect through a series of books they could take home and share with their families.
If they are really good, students can be named “Student of the Week” on the morning announcements.
And they can collect “Walker bucks,” which reward good behavior and can be spent at a store full of donated goodies.
Kids who “walk the Walker Walk” in the hallways also get coins they can use for their whole class. If they earn enough, they can score a pizza party.
“The biggest change is that they don’t want to disappoint their teachers,” Bullock said. “When you treat children with value and respect, you get respect back. It can’t be a one-sided way.”