Understandably, a lot of Middleton High School alumni are upset with what they’ve been seeing in the reincarnation of their old high school, the one with the proud heritage. It came more clearly into focus recently when Middleton, which dates to 1934, held its 75th anniversary.
Today’s Middleton, a $50-million East Tampa facility that opened in 2002, is an academic imposter, unworthy of the Middleton mantle. For the last six years it has received a “D” grade from the state, which means it’s still on the “intervention” list. Which means from its ’02 restart-up it’s been embarrassingly underperforming. Now it’s subject to any number of mandates, including a restructuring of its staff by the school board.
Two points.
First, Middleton should not have held a 75th anniversary gathering – but rather the 38th anniversary of its first 37 years. As in hearkening back to when Middleton stood for achievement and neighborhood pride. When it was converting America’s segregation crucible into a community challenge. THAT Middleton closed under a federal desegregation order in 1971.
So, why not make modern Middleton earn its way back into the fold, one forged against the odds by proud predecessors? Nostalgia only applies to those who have lived it.
Second, we know what works. Call it old school thinking, but you could have found it in a Catholic school with one nun teaching all subjects to classes twice what Florida’s Class Size Amendment would allow. Or in a black school in a black community during the infamy that was Jim Crow. It’s not merely a matter of “accountability systems” or pressure tactics directed at the school board or its superintendent.
The key is teacher-student-parent alliances, where teachers and parents reinforce each other. Where students don’t equate good grades with “acting white” and don’t need a drum line for motivation. We know that a $50-million campus can be rich in resources and poor in parental participation. And we know an iconic name is irrelevant to those who think academic accomplishment is uncool.
Good schools start in good homes. Not necessarily affluent homes, but good homes. No, life isn’t fair, but nobody’s precluded from decent values. We already know — absent a culture of parental support and student pride and work ethic — what millions of dollars can yield. In Middleton’s muddled case: failure and “intervention.”