THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406190054
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE STAUNTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940619 LENGTH: PORTSMOUTH
``Have you worked all of your problems yet?'' she asked. ``People, you're going to be doing this in the fifth grade next year and it's not going to be easier.'' She walks around the room, inspecting. ``It's going to be harder and you've got to be ready for it. You've got to be ready, people.''
{REST} Thrower is relentless in pushing her students. It is an approach characteristic of the style brought in this school year by new Principal James M. Victory.
At the beginning of the year, parents and teachers raised eyebrows when Victory talked of improving test scores by 10 percentage points. But they bought into his vision.
The latest standardized-test scores show the results: In onlyone academic year, James Hurst students showed some of the biggest achievement gains in the district.
At almost every grade level, they scored at or near the top of the district's elementary schools. The gains ranged from increases of 7 percentage points to 30 percentage points in all but two areas. Many were the biggest for James Hurst in at least four years.
The results show that even some of the most disadvantaged students can escape the academic basement.
Ironically, many James Hurst students are classified as ``at risk'' of failing.
Nearly 70 percent are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. The students are about evenly split along racial lines and come from neighborhoods as dissimilar as the Washington Park public housing project and the historic Cradock area.
``A lot of times, low student achievement is blamed on single mothers or other things,'' said Karen Whayland, a James Hurst guidance counselor. ``But people need to realize that children can overcome obstacles if you give them a goal and say, `I believe in you and you can accomplish a lot more.' ''
Victory - hard-nosed, powerfully built and goal-oriented - lives by that creed.
``I don't know if I'm strict. I don't know if I'm tough,'' he said. ``But I do know that I don't play with what I do. And I know we have too many kids nowadays that should be given a better opportunity of being successful.
``I can't pass the buck. And my staff knows that I'm not going to allow them to pass the buck.''
Victory, 39, worked for five years as Highland-Biltmore Elementary's principal. He was transferred to James Hurst last year as part of a district reorganization.
During his tenure, Highland-Biltmore's standardized-test scores also jumped, in many cases going from among the district's worst to the best - a commendable feat for a school where most students are poor and live in housing projects.
He is intent on that same success with his newest students. James Hurst was one of five schools targeted in the event the district turned for help to a private company to manage some schools.
Victory did not wait to make changes.
The hallways are decorated with attractive bulletin boards and student artwork. Victory established a blue-and-gold ``Wall of Success'' to show off students' achievements and community awards. With staff and parental support, he also made about 60 other changes.
For example:
A closet was converted into a special room where the school's speech pathologist could work with students in small groups. He took infrequently used classroom computers and created a computer lab with software aimed at sharpening students' test-taking skills. An in-house tutorial program was set up during regular school hours.
When students arrived at school each morning, they went to ``quiet zones,'' areas where they sat together to review homework or read - all in the half-hour before the first bell rang.
A teacher crafted a school song and students grew to like the idea of reciting a new school pledge each day. Moreover, Victory asked students, teachers, parents and administrators to make pledges to support the school and work hard. In some cases, written pledges were signed.
``Mr. Victory gave us time to think about how to have confidence in ourselves,'' said 9-year-old Jonelle Phillips, a second-grader. ``It's like he gave us more respect.''
Said kindergarten teacher Gloria Smith: ``Mr. Victory is enthusiastic and hyper. But he also transmits that enthusiasm and offers constant pats on the back. I've gone to him often about things I wanted to do in kindergarten and he always said, `If it's for the children, let's go with it.' ''
There have been a few bumps, however.
Some teachers complained about the smaller classrooms they'd get and the hassle of relocating when Victory decided to move kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes so the youngest students could reach their buses quicker. But to him it made sense. He even helped move furniture. Others said they were a little surprised last summer when Victory mailed tailor-made pledges to everyone.
``I wasn't so sure what we would be getting,'' said Cindy Stalls, a mother of two James Hurst students, referring to Victory's arrival. ``But the energy he projects . . . it's unreal. He takes no nonsense. He got the fire burning, you know what I mean?''
Audrey Smith, another parent, sent Victory a small, eagle-shaped trophy when she heard about the achievement gains.
``It just seems that everyone is more on their toes now,'' Smith said. ``I think you need someone who's going to stand up and say, `Hey, we need to do an even better job.' He did that and it worked.''
Behind the friendly atmosphere, however, some serious-minded practices are at work.
Students with the most pressing needs are targeted for individual attention. The school focuses heavily on parental involvement, and teachers are encouraged to play a bigger role in shaping what happens in their classes.
Victory, for instance, turned one office into a ``teacher planning room'' and then required team meetings among teachers on all grade levels. To show that he was serious, he reviewed notes from each meeting.
Then, there's the belief that while the school's recent performance is notable, there's still a lot of room for improvement. ``As it's stated in our school song, `We're Eagles and we soar high,' '' said Essie Bowie, a Chapter 1 resource teacher. ``It doesn't stop now. We have to keep on pushing and we will.''
{KEYWORDS} PORTSMOUTH SCHOOLS
by CNB