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Education

A Principal Reflects On The Stigma Of Florida's "Lowest 300" Schools List

Some 79 South Florida elementary schools will have an extra hour in the day this year, part of a program meant to boost performance at schools with low reading scores on state tests.

Poinciana Park Elementary School, in Liberty City, is one of many schools that’s been on the so-called “Lowest 300” list for several years running. WLRN’s Rowan Moore Gerety spoke with the principal there, Dr. Amrita Prakash, about the ups and downs of the program.

 

AP: One of the challenges that we face in the extended day schools is that it is a long instructional day. And, sometimes our kids get, a little bit tired, and worn out. So, for a teacher to be alive and animated can be a challenge.

WLRN: This list is a public list.

AP: Yeah, I know.

WLRN: OK, so tell me what’s going through your mind when you say ‘I know’ like that?

AP: I think that public perception of being on the Lowest 300 is kind of daunting, and a little bit misleading. You know, as soon as my students come in the gate, my students feel like they’re part of something important, that their education is a priority, and that they’re going places in the world. I know that from the bird’s eye view as soon as I get on that list, everybody sees me and thinks, ‘there’s that school on the Lowest 300.’

WLRN: Does that perception have an impact on your kids, on families and on recruiting teachers?

AP: It doesn’t for my community and my kids because they live and breathe, they are with it, they know the pulse of our building. So I think that the community while, albeit slow, they’re happy with the progress we’re making. It definitely, though, has an impact on my ability to recruit and hire. It’s hard, it’s hard. Teachers see that, and that challenge can be scary for people who don’t know what’s going on inside my building.

 

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

 

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