Lucy C. Laney High School Principal Quentin Motley talks in his office about the Freshman Academy program at the school. JONATHAN ERNST/STAFF

Students build on skills

Loss of graduates prompts debut of Freshman Academy

Web posted September 2, 1999

 Teachers focus on freshmen

By Faith Johnson
Staff Writer

During his first year at Lucy C. Laney High school, Principal Quentin Motley noticed a trend that was unacceptable.

``I looked at the number of freshmen coming in and the number of graduating seniors and I saw that there was a great difference,'' Mr. Motley said. ``If you start out with 250 freshmen, then you should end up with at least 200 graduating, our rate was a little less than that. My concern was why?''

During the 1997-98 school year, only 33.7 percent of Laney's class of 1998 finished school within four years. In Richmond County, 61 percent finished on time and in the state, 68 percent.

Mr. Motley, who was named principal last year, talked to former freshmen in hopes of curbing the drop out rate. He and his staff conducted workshops for the students, which concluded with the installation this year of a freshmen academy.

Laney is the second high school in Richmond County to try a program geared toward helping freshmen make the transition from middle to high school.

English teacher Robyn Nicholson directs a vocabulary lesson in her Freshman Academy class at Laney High school. JONATHAN ERNST/STAFF

Last year Hephzibah High school put its first-year students in a building a few miles from the main campus and called it The Freshmen Academy. In addition to helping freshmen, the program also was supposed to alleviate overcrowding in the main building.

But Hephzibah High officials decided not to have the school this year.

The program fell short of addressing overcrowding, but the concept was a good idea, Hephzibah High Principal Susan Rogers said when the program ended this summer.

Mrs. Rogers said the program would have worked better as a school-within-a-school.

Mr. Motley agrees.

``Our objectives are basically the same as Hephzibah's,'' Mr. Motley said, ``but, students are on-site. They have pride in the school and we're pretty much here to give them a little more nurturing.''

At Laney, the 200 first-time freshmen are housed on the school's third floor. They have all of their basic courses there -- math, language arts, social studies -- and move to other parts of the building when they need to use equipment and material for classes such as Physical Education, cosmetology and science.

``Our goal is to give them a stronger foundation,'' Mr. Motley said. ``We chose teachers who were willing to be parents, so to speak, to nurture them and guide them and show them the way. When they have a problem they can come to this person and work with them to get them off on the right track.''

Laney freshmen, like Hephzibah's did, have mixed feelings about the concept.

Ratesha Gibbs, who attended Murphey Middle school last year, likes her first two weeks of high school and doesn't mind having classes with only her peers.

``I think it's good,'' Ratesha said of the academy. ``It gives us a chance to get to know each other.''

Bobbie Jo Whitley, who came from Tubman Middle school, said freshmen have to know how to handle themselves in high school.

``Most of us are on task,'' Bobbie Jo said. ``But, I don't think we should have all of our classes together. All ninth-graders are not on the same level and having classes with other grades gives you a chance to get to know everybody.''

Teachers at Laney said separating freshmen has produced a change.

``When they are with their peers they don't try to act older,'' said Carlotte Fields, a math teacher. ``They fit right in with each other and don't try to act any differently.''

Anita Tanner, a social science teacher, said some of the freshmen are still getting used to high school.

``I see that we've got a lot of motivated and eager students,'' Mrs. Tanner said. ``Then there are those who are not quite sure yet what's going on. Some are very curious.''

Mr. Motley said the students have time during lunch breaks to socialize with upper-classmen.

He said the school plans to continue the program year after year. And when classes end June 2, Mr. Motley said he's expecting an improvement.

``We're hoping all the students will have passed the required courses to move from ninth grade to 10th grade,'' he said. ``If any of them fail, we will go back and find out what variables caused them to fail.''

Faith Johnson covers education, she can be reached at (706) 823-3765 or faithj@augustachronicle.com.