The week Principal Russell Wallace took the helm at Bailey Elementary School one year ago, the state released the school Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test letter grades for the 2012-13 school year.
That year, Bailey received a D. And Wallace knew it should have been an F, except the state instituted a safety net that prevented any school from dropping more than one letter grade.
Wallace took the evaluation and challenged his faculty and students to do the unthinkable — from worst to first — in just one year.
“I was a stranger on campus,” Wallace said. “I’m sure they thought, ‘This guy is nuts.’”
Maybe. But, it doesn’t hurt to dream big.
Bailey Elementary out-shined all other schools in Hillsborough County to post the largest year-over-year gains — from a D in 2013 to an A in 2014. As a result, Superintendent MaryEllen Elia will host her annual back-to-school news conference Aug. 15, from the Dover school.
“It’s a great thing for Bailey,” Wallace said. “There’s a lot of pride. A lot of people don’t have a chance to come to our campus, so the public forms its opinion on a school from these grades.
“We knew we needed to get student achievement moving in the right direction,” he said. “When I got here, I told everyone, ‘We’re going to be an A.’ We had to start with that vision, and if we wanted to be an A school, we had to act like an A school. We had to believe we were an A school.”
Even as Florida schools began their transition to the new Common Core-based standards in the 2013-14 school year, other Plant City-area elementary and middle schools also showed gains. In addition to Bailey, six other Plant City elementary and middle schools are expected to receive A grades this year. By comparison, only one — Knights Elementary — received an A last year.
Letter grades for high schools are expected to be released in the fall.
Other Plant City schools that posted gains include Nelson Elementary (C to A), Robinson Elementary (C to A), Shiloh Middle Charter (C to A), Lincoln Elementary Magnet (B to A), Walden Lake Elementary (B to A), Advantage Academy of Hillsborough (D to C), Bryan Elementary (D to C) and Dover Elementary (D to C).
“We know that our students and teachers have been working hard this year, and it’s great to finish the school year and get these kinds of results,’’ Elia said. “During this transitional time, it’s gratifying to see our students performing at such high levels. Our students, teachers, principals — and parents — should be very proud.”
Some Plant City schools posted lower grades, including Cork Elementary (B to C), Jackson Elementary (C to D), Wilson Elementary (B to C), Advantage Academy Middle (B to C) and Tomlin Middle (B to C).
No Plant City-area school posted an F grade.
County-wide, 63 elementary schools earned A grades, compared to 40 the previous year. Twenty middle schools earned A grades, compared to 14 the previous year.
This was the last school year Florida students will take the FCAT. Next year, students will take an entirely different test, the Florida State Assessment, based on the new Florida Standards.
Contact Michael Eng at meng@plantcityobserver.com.
Download a chart analyzing Plant City-area schools’ grades here.