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Darden Middle seeks leaps this school year By Stephanie Creech Daily Times Senior Writer Darden Middle School Principal Charles Chestnut wants this to be a leap year for his school. Chestnut said his students have made strides over the past two years but need to make a leap in their academic performance in 2008-09. This school year, Darden enters the second level of sanctions in the Title I School Improvement process because the school failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind for the third consecutive year. That means that parents can send their children to another school within the district or they can keep their children at Darden and enroll them in free tutoring programs. Parents can also keep their children at Darden and not take advantage of any extra academic help. Although the numbers are still tentative, Chestnut thinks the school will lose around 58 students. The figure includes students who chose to attend another school last year and those who have decided to attend another school this year. Chestnut also expects some students who attended either Forest Hills or Toisnot middle schools last year to return. Some of the students opting out of Darden this school year are incoming sixth-graders who have never attended the school. Chestnut and his leadership team are concerned that parents of those students are not giving the school a chance. Wendy Sullivan, Darden's assistant principal, uses the adage about not judging a book by its cover when describing Darden. She said when people come into the school they see it's a nice facility and see lots of things are happening. The school will hold a parent meeting on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. to discuss the new tutoring programs. This meeting comes on the heels of the Darden Pride night held earlier this month. Some of the school's successes, such as being one of three middle schools in the district to make high growth this year even though it didn't make AYP, was shared with parents during the Darden Pride event. Increased parent involvement is one of the goals Darden's leadership team has set for this year. Chestnut wants more community involvement. The plan is for the school to hold some parent meetings in the neighborhoods where students live. Chestnut also wants to the students' pastors to become involved with the school so that the pastors can stress the importance of school with the students and parents in their congregations. He's asked George Pulley, Darden's student services coordinator, to determine which churches students attend. Other changes at the school this year include plans to focus more on student interests. Students will be surveyed about what clubs they want offered at school. Darden has student clubs, but the current clubs are based more on what teachers are willing to do instead of student interests, said Toni Campbell, Darden's AIG specialist. Campbell said they want to offer more opportunities for student self-expression through theater, poetry and dance programs. One of the reasons why the leadership team is looking at more arts programs is because they know parents will come to their children's performances when they might not attend another school-related meeting. In an ironic twist, the fact that Darden's student population is dropping due to the school choice options can be a positive thing for the students who remain, said one of the school's teachers. Robert Harvey, seventh-grade social studies teacher and student government association adviser at Darden, said they should be able to do more with the students who stay. The school will continue several initiatives that it started last school year. For example, students will bury the words "I Can't" and cast aside the hold that the words have on their lives. During the funeral, students write down things they believe they can't do and toss sheets of paper containing their thoughts in a casket. The school will also continue to offer Project F-Stop, which started in February. Project F-Stop links students failing at least one course with a teacher in another grade level. The teachers act as a mentor and offer academic help. The teachers contact the student they are mentoring at least once per week to offer encouragement and to make sure homework or any missed assignments and tests have been completed. Joan Boykin, student counselor at Darden, said the program will start much earlier this year. Campbell was struck by the fact students would seek her out and come tell her their grades. Overall, Darden's leadership team spent time at the end of the school year and this summer taking a look at existing initiatives in terms of their effectiveness and how they can be integrated. Chestnut likened the process to having a plate of food with 10 items on it. The 10 items can't be easily absorbed, he said, so they need to look at how the items can be mixed together so they are effective and beneficial. Darden leaders said they also plan to focus more on instruction and have teachers spend more time collaborating at the grade and department levels and assessing what skills students are mastering. During his first year at Darden, Chestnut requested and received two curriculum facilitators. These facilitators are 12-month employees. Chestnut said the facilitators -- Gwendolyn Barnes and Latonya Pender -- have spent all summer making sure needed curriculum changes are in place. More focus this school year will be placed on math. Barnes attended workshops this summer and has different ideas she wants to share with her math teachers. Barnes said they want to get the students to work "harder and smarter" and make them thinkers. "We do care about the kids," Barnes said. creech@wilsontimes.com | 265-7822
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