Lessons Learned from Rural Schools - Alabama Department of ...

LLS-0010 Lessons Learned_Pub.qrk: 4/25/09 3:02 PM Page 11
Education is More
Than Paper & Pencils
By Larry Lee
It’s easy to understand why the city of Auburn has
an excellent school system. After all, education is
the economy there. For example, while 21 percent
of all the people 25 years or older in the state have a
college degree, 56 percent of those in Auburn do.
In other words, the Auburn community has a strong
education foundation where staying in school and going
to college is not an option--it is expected. It’s no wonder
that only seven other school systems provide more
local funding per student that Auburn does.
But Arley ain’t Auburn.
Nor is it Dutton, Phil Campbell, Fruithurst, Marion,
Pine Hill, Lockhart, Huxford, Gilbertown or
Mount Vernon.
Which makes the success of their schools all the
more impressive.
In the opinion of many education leaders, what
happens outside the classroom in the form of “community
involvement” may be as important as what
goes on in the classroom.
But “involvement” is greatly impacted by “community.”
Or maybe we should say the circumstances surrounding
the community. Wrights Mill Road
Elementary in Auburn has had 100 percent participation
in PTA for the last 21 years. This is a school of
421 students. By comparison, the PTO of one of the
schools in this study (with a few students more than
Wrights Mill Road) has only 12 members.
But if it’s commonplace for someone in a rural
community to drive an hour to work each day, then
the time left over to go to PTO meetings--or to work
with a child on homework--is limited.
So what might be considered community involvement
in one place might be something far different in
another place. It’s all about understanding that resources
in rural communities are much scarcer than in
larger communities.
It has nothing to do with the desire of parents to see
that their children succeed or the hope of a local
Lessons Learned from Rural Schools – May 2009
mayor that their school will provide an excellent education.
In fact, it’s rather remarkable that some of
these communities provide as much support as
they do.
At Huxford Elementary, the PTO pays the monthly
rent on office equipment, buys office supplies and
raised $34,000 for playground equipment. The Dutton
School PTO bought a $4,000 laminator and lockers
for the middle school. In Phil Campbell, a PTO
with only a handful of members raises about $10,000
annually. They have bought chairs for classrooms, put
in heating and air conditioning and built a snack area.
And while getting your arms around something
as intangible as “community involvement” is like trying
to grasp a handful of morning mist, it is obvious
that all of these schools work to encourage support
from both the community at-large and the parents
of students.
“One thing is certain,” says Jacqui James, principal
at Southern Choctaw Elementary in Gilbertown, “we
need community support.”
Here are some of the guiding principles these ten
schools focus on in building support:
Create a culture of expectations
Visit one of these schools and it doesn’t take long to
realize that “there is something in the air” at each of
them. You discover this in many ways, from how clean
bathrooms are, to colorful posters lining the hallways,
to a cheery greeting from office staff, to smiles on the
faces of first-graders lined up to go to lunch.
Then you come to understand that central to all of
these outward signs is a culture of expectations for
both students and staff.
“Our mission,” says one principal, “is to teach our
students--and not just math or reading or science.
We also teach discipline, responsibility, how to treat
one another, right from wrong and to do the best that
you can.”
This is explained to some degree by the findings
of Gerald Carter that the majority of teachers in
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