By Rebecca Catalanello, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — As the clock approached 8:35 a.m., Susan Stritar placed boxes of crayons before 11 kid-sized chairs.
Outside her kindergarten classroom, parents with children in khaki, white and blue uniforms gathered outside the Fairmount Park Elementary office, drawing their fingers down class-by-class rosters, looking for their kids' names, their classrooms, their teachers.
"First grade's not boring," 7-year-old Anyah Burrows reassured her two first-grade cousins as they walked past the crowd and waited to be allowed access to class or to breakfast.
And soon enough, they were.
After a long, hot summer, school started Tuesday morning under cloudy, drippy skies, and teachers like Stritar officially welcomed the students whom they will be spending the next nine months teaching math, reading, manners and play.
Pinellas County school district spokeswoman Andrea Davis said the morning went off without a hitch. Almost 104,000 students were expected at the district's 112 K-12 schools.
Despite numerous school bus route changes, Davis said, transportation officials were reporting no substantial issues other than rain delays. "It's pretty much a typical day," Davis said.
Forty-two arterial bus stops were moved in time for the start of school. Sixty-six stops were added.
Fairmount Park learned this summer that it had slid from a C-rated school to an F, yet the first day brought a heightened dose of hopes and expectations.
Under the leadership of new principal Cooper Dawson, formerly of 74th Street Elementary, staffers expressed hope that 2010-11 would be a good year.
"Dawson's great," one front office employee said to another.
The school is launching the Children's Initiative, designed to target and support low-income students and their families as they move from grade to grade. Modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone, Fairmount Park's program is starting with one classroom per grade.
And Stritar's is one.
"Mommy, I like this school," 5-year-old Kaden Danford said as he took his seat in Stritar's class and said goodbye to his mother, T'Ane Fillyau.
Fillyau said she first had her doubts about Fairmount Park but was relieved to learn that Kaden would be a part of the pilot.
She wants him to learn patience, make friends, enjoy school. She wants him to be prepared for first grade. And she wants him not to slip through the cracks. Ever.
"My biggest fear for a boy is street life," she said after stepping outside the classroom and telling Stritar she wants clear communication from her about her son's progress and behavior. "I don't want him to become a thug."
Fillyau said that if she had the means, she'd send her son to a private school. But she's encouraged about Fairmount Park.
"I feel that he's safe here," she said. "If he had to be in a public school, I'm glad he's here."
Rebecca Catalanello can be reached at (727) 893-8707 or rcatalanello@sptimes.com.