Move to improve

The first time Erica Flowers visited Orchard Knob Middle School, her fears of a school in chaos were confirmed. It was time to get her daughter out.

"I went over ... and [the students] were so loud. I was standing there and a teacher was like, 'Can I help you?' And I was like, 'Um, no, I'm not the one who needs the help here,'" she said, adding that was the moment when she thought her daughter "can't do another year at Orchard Knob."

In fact, Flowers never wanted her daughter, Alayah Jackson, to go there in the first place. She'd heard stories of fighting and gangs at the school, and it just didn't seem a good place for her daughter to go after Hardy Elementary.

Although federal law gave Flowers the opportunity to transfer her daughter from the low-performing Orchard Knob to a higher-performing school, the process took too long the first time around. Alayah ended up spending her sixth-grade year at Orchard Knob.

But this year, Flowers got her paperwork turned in early. So, along with 77 of her classmates, Alayah, 12, transferred to Hunter Middle School, a 30-minute bus ride from her home in East Chattanooga. Another 21 students from Orchard Knob transferred to Ooltewah Middle.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, parents whose children attend a low-performing school are given the option to transfer their children to a high-performing "paired" school. Eight low-performing schools on the No Child list have paired schools in Hamilton County.

The transfer program is available in schools across the country, but typically in Hamilton County, few students have taken the district up on the choice. In 2009, for instance, only 27 students switched to new schools.

But this year that number shot up to 198 - more than half of them leaving Orchard Knob Middle, which lost 20 percent of its enrollment as a result of the transfer option.

The idea behind the transfers is to allow students who feel they otherwise would be academically successful but are not performing well because of a negative school environment, to transfer to schools that are doing well.

Everyone involved agrees there are bumps when students transfer schools. Some students bring along bad habits from their low-performing schools, including discipline problems or lack of academic interest.

"There haven't been any downsides yet," Flowers said of her daughter's new school. "I hate that it's so far out, but seeing that she's getting a better education, I'd go the extra mile."

Orchard Knob Principal Maryo Beck did not return repeated telephone calls for comment.

Deputy School Superintendent Rick Smith said a tough year at Orchard Knob is partially responsible for the increase in transfers. Discipline problems last year led one school board member to claim the school was "out of control."

During the 2009-10 school year, Orchard Knob Middle had more suspensions, expulsions and fights than any other Hamilton County school, data show. And parents talk, Smith said. Rumors have snowballed, causing the community to lose confidence in the school.

"The combination of hearing good things about Hunter and Ooltewah [Middle], compounded by not feeling as good about Orchard Knob, certainly led to a higher number [of transfers]," he said. "And the more people who leave [for Hunter and Ooltewah], the more comfortable the parents feel sending their kids there."

No Child Left Behind, as well as the magnet school program that also allows students to transfer to schools outside their zone, have resulted in an enrollment drop of about 150 students at Orchard Knob Middle, leaving 360 this year.

Smith believes Orchard Knob can turn itself around.

"You want to see it reversed. You want to see the confidence level from people in the community increased," he said. "The teachers and the administrators [at Orchard Knob] will have to work hard and get out in the community to let those fifth-grade parents know about their program."

RIGHT REASONS, RIGHT MOVE

Most of the students who transferred this year to Signal Mountain Middle-High from Howard School of Academics and Technology are there for the right reasons, said Signal Mountain Principal Tom McCullough.

They're serious about their studies, and they face head-on the challenge of the mountain school's new, rigorous International Baccalaureate curriculum.

Take Ivy Johnson. After her freshman year at Howard, she spent a year at Center for Creative Arts but decided the arts program wasn't a good fit. Instead of heading back to Howard, she transferred to Signal Mountain.

A 16-year-old junior, she said she works hard for her grades and that she's happy to be there. Signal Mountain is different, but "it's a good different," she said.

Ivy is a perfect example of a student who's doing it right, McCullough said.

"Without a doubt, for those students who truly use NCLB to find an academic setting that's more suitable to their goals, it's a benefit," he said. "There are some who are certainly contributors to our academic community."

But not all the 34 former Howard students who have transferred to Signal act like Ivy, he adds. About one-quarter of them are failing every one of their classes, have been suspended multiple times and seem not to "have that much of an interest in education," he said.

Teachers at Signal have their suspicions that guidance counselors at Howard encouraged parents of troubled students to apply for the NCLB transfers so they'd leave Howard.

"For those students who have no intention of applying themselves, for those students who it was simply a way out of another school, there is no benefit," McCullough said. "In essence, they're just moving their problems from one school to another.

"You'd think that parents who would make this choice, they'd be families who are putting a high emphasis on education."

But Howard Principal Paul Smith said the idea that his school wanted any students to leave is completely unfounded. Schools receive state funding based on the number of students who enroll, so no principal wants to lose 34 students, he said.

"There is no child in Hamilton County that we can't handle at Howard," he said. "We don't run away from challenges; we embrace them. We look for opportunities to create success stories out of them."

In her Spanish I class at Signal Mountain, teacher Rebecca Bohn has one former Howard student who should be a senior, she said, but is in ninth grade because he doesn't have a single credit.

But things are running smoother overall since the beginning of the year, with the Howard students fitting in better and getting over their culture shock, Bohn said.

"I've had to be Attila the Hun," she joked. "It was a mind-blower for some of these kids that they couldn't talk back to me. I think Howard allowed them to do whatever they wanted."

Some students who transfer say tougher academic standards are the biggest difference at their new schools. When Alayah was at Orchard Knob, she remembers rarely bringing home any assignments.

"In some subjects, I didn't learn much because the children was bad and stuff," she said. "Some days they'd be out of control."

But Smith said classes are every bit as challenging at Howard as at other schools. He said he has students begging him to be allowed to drop their Advanced Placement classes because they're too hard. But Smith said he never lets them.

And because Howard is a Title I school, with a large percentage of children who qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, Smith said he's armed with all sorts of academic coaches and interventionists who offer students extra help and after-school tutoring. That kind of supplemental service is not available at schools such as Hunter and Signal Mountain. Smith said he fears some transfer students will struggle without the extra help and end up coming back to Howard.

"Some of the kids who 'escaped' thought the grass was greener over [at other schools]," he said. "I've literally sat down with parents and said, 'Please do not leave Howard.'

"They'll get over there with harder AP and [International Baccalaureate] classes, and there's not that extra support over there. The personalization here at Howard is kind of unique."

RACE RELATIONS

In many ways, the move from Howard to Signal Mountain was a scary one to make, several students said.

Ivy, who is black, was in the majority at Howard. When she first got to Signal Mountain, where last year only 13 of the school's 830 students were black, she got a few long stares and racial jokes whispered her way.

At Signal, she now feels as if she can relate to the minority group of white students who attend Howard.

"[Signal Mountain] is a very segregated school," Ivy said. "[Students] say this is the most black kids they've ever been around."

Niki Lewellyn, a studious sophomore at Signal Mountain, said the beginning of the school year was rife with racial tension.

"When you mix a bunch of people who normally don't get along, it doesn't work. People pay attention less because they're too busy arguing," said Niki, who is white.

But Ivy stuck it out and, after about a month, she said she's made friends and feels more comfortable.

"It depends on the person, but I really enjoy being up here," she said.

Carson Littell, a white eighth-grader at Hunter, said he rarely notices that there are any students there from Orchard Knob because they tend to keep to themselves.

"They sort of just hang out with each other," the 13-year-old said.

Despite the challenges, Bohn, who is in her first year teaching at Signal Mountain, is optimistic.

"Maybe I don't see it as much because I'm a teacher and I'm in [my classroom], but you look out in the hall and see kids getting along," she said. "I was really surprised at how welcoming everyone was. Everybody here wants this to work."