It didn't work out that way. But John's not panicking.

John said he's sure these disappointments are part of the kinks of the academy's first year. Interested in becoming a professional musician, John is willing to look beyond the initial unmet expectations and see the potential the academy holds for him.

He said he feels lucky to be among the first group of academy students and thinks academy participation will bolster his college choices and allow him to get a feel for what he wants to do in the future.

A sophomore, John transferred to Hunt from Beddingfield High School and thinks moving to Hunt for the academy was one of the best decisions he's made.

Next school year, John plans to focus on completing most of his remaining required courses so he can spend his senior year taking classes more focused on his musical interests.

The potential of being able to meet the interests of students like John is one of the positive results Keith Byrum, Hunt High science teacher, sees coming from the new academies.

Byrum said people want instant gratification from the program, and parents want immediate results for their children. But Byrum said the public has to be patient. He's looking forward to next school year when all high school students in the county will be enrolled in an academy.

But he said he thinks this year has been beneficial because at least one group of students and teachers at each school has a taste of what academies can be like.

"We were able to get a student like John here at Hunt," Byrum said. "It's helped him. There is nothing negative about that."

REFORM NEEDED

In 2004, Wilson County Schools Superintendent Larry Price talked with the Wilson County Board of Education about the need to create a high school reform plan. A task force was formed to study the need and to come up with recommendations on how high schools should change.

The task force met for more than a year and spent time studying reform efforts in other school districts.

One of the districts visited was Scotland County. Scotland officials went to wall-to-wall academies at their only high school. Scotland opened two academies in 2006, then opened four additional academies in 2007. The district also has freshmen academies that are meant to help students with the transition from middle to high school.

Some skeptics of Wilson County Schools reform efforts point to Scotland County as an example of how the academies are not working because student scores on state-mandated End-of-Course tests dropped in the first two academies last school year. For example, at least 60 percent of students in Scotland High's School of Engineering performed at grade level during the 2005-2006 academic year. Last school year, less than 50 percent of students in that academy performed at grade level.

High schools have been operating under the same comprehensive model since the 1950s. But far too many local students today never complete high school. Each year, more than 1,000 freshmen enter Wilson County's high schools but fewer than 700 graduate. Last school year, the district had more students drop out than it has in the past six years. But the district did post some double-digit gains on state-mandated End-of-Course tests during the fall semester. But there's still work to be done. For example, only 42.2 percent of the district's students passed the state Algebra I test in the fall.

Price said until the wall-to-wall academies create a data history, school leaders will have to rely on "observation, perception and anecdotal information for evaluation" of whether the academies are working.

"We are far too early in academy development to make authentic assessments based on data," Price said. "The first three academies are embedded in traditional high schools, and their performance has been impacted by variables outside their control."

Rachel Cozart, special assistant to the superintendent of Wilson County Schools, believes implementation of the academies has gone well considering the magnitude of the initiative and the fact the district doesn't have an identical model to follow. Cozart thinks it was to the district's advantage to start small. She's pleased with the progress and points to the Wilson County Board of Education's decision in October to let school staff proceed with planning for the additional academies for next school year as a key turning point.

ANALYZING BUT MOVING FORWARD

Changes made during this inaugural year have been based on observation, perception and anecdotal information.

"We've concluded that these inaugural academies fulfilled our expectations and have given us a preview of exciting possibilities," Price said.

Pamela Walthall, executive director for high school education for Wilson County Schools, said officials have had to analyze things as a group and think about how to move forward as a group. But the group has not had to stop because of lack of an identical model, Walthall said.

Angela Norris, career and technical education director for Wilson County Schools, said she doesn't think there was ever a sense of backing up. Instead, administrators have always moved forward with the academy process. Norris is interested in seeing how each academy next school year will work to define itself and what steps will be taken to help develop a sense of pride among the students for their academy.

Byrum has enjoyed getting to know his fellow academy teachers on a deeper professional level this year. They are starting to work closer together. A Hunt faculty member for eight years, Byrum said he has not interacted with his fellow faculty members in the past to the level he has this school year.

When the school board approved releasing students from school on several Wednesdays this semester so teachers could have extra time to collaborate and plan with each other, Byrum said it was a sign to him people are serious about the teachers collaborating. At the same time teachers have been building their academy teams, most of this year's academy teachers have gone through what's known as Professional Learning Communities training. Byrum sees the two as basically one in the same.

At the same time, academy teachers have had to continue meeting with teachers within the same discipline to be certain they are all teaching the same material at the same pace so students, whether in an academy this year or not, can pass state-mandated End-of-Course tests.

LACK OF FULL ACADEMY EXPERIENCE

The presence of more of a team atmosphere among academy students and teachers is the best thing Beddingfield English teacher Rhonda Summerlin has seen come out of this first year. The majority of Summerlin's students have been part of Beddingfield's Engineering and Industrial Technology Academy.

Summerlin said several of the academy teachers shared planning times this year more so first semester than the current semester. Still, she said the academy teachers talk to each other in the hall about their students. There's a new sense of "our" students developing among the teachers, she said.

Freshman Wallace Exum is glad he chose to attend Beddingfield instead of Hunt. Wallace said when he applied for the academy last year he couldn't make up his mind whether he really wanted to attend Beddingfield. But Wallace said this has been an interesting year. He's made new friends and plans to stay at Beddingfield. However, Wallace has applied for the new Math, Science and Health Sciences Academy because his interest is in math more than engineering.

Summerlin has found it's not as easy as one might think to tie what's taught in core classes to the more academy-specific courses. But she praised Wallace and other students for their ingenuity. Wallace and a classmate, for example, put their drafting skills to work in her English class and did a blueprint of Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

Teachers have had to adjust to having students arrive late and leave early from classes due to the shuttle bus students ride from their base school to their academy school.

Byrum said it took him about two weeks to get into the routine of cutting off instruction at 2:45 p.m. He can't promise he always stops teaching after the students leave but he tries to make sure students won't be hurt by any instruction they miss.

Summerlin said she tries to start her first block class with a warm-up exercise before instruction starts so when students arrive they can easily catch up. Summerlin thinks transportation has been a minor issue and not something teachers couldn't work around.

Summerlin also thinks the students who transferred to Beddingfield from Fike and Hunt for the academy have been more involved in the school and done things, such as join the tennis team, that she doesn't think they ordinarily would have done.

Fike High School Principal Steve Ellis said it has been tough this year not giving students the full effect of being in an academy. Fike lost about 20 academy students, mainly seniors, who decided to return to their original schools. Ellis said Fike's academy was not full. Fike had between 150 to 160 academy students, not the full slate of 270 students.

Ellis said it takes time and he doesn't think the students as a whole at Fike caught onto the academy this year.

Fike senior Thomas Horne Jr. thinks nobody beyond Fike's Health Science academy hall knows what's happening or knows about the classes he's been able to take as a result of the academy. Thomas thinks juniors and seniors have ignored the academy plans and are not taking them seriously.

By joining the academy, Thomas was able this semester to take the two tough medical classes -- Allied Health II and Medical Science II -- he wanted. Thomas has also had real-world experience this year by participating in an internship at Wilson Urology. Thomas plans to take the state certified nursing assistant exam and work this summer before entering the University of North Carolina at Charlotte this fall to study biology. His future plans include medical school.

Donna Thorne has wanted the district to have a health sciences academy for a long time.

Last school year, Fike couldn't offer enough health science classes to meet student demand. But by having two teachers -- Thorne and Kim Schmidt -- assigned to the academy, students got the classes they wanted. Various health science classes require teachers to have only a limited number of students.

Ellis said the bad part for him in the past was having to tell students they couldn't take the classes they wanted. He used Thomas as an example. Without two health science teachers, Thomas could not have taken Allied Health II and Medical Science II.

But Thorne worried about Thomas spending the entire day with Thorne and Schmidt. Thorne thought having the same two teachers all day might be too much for Thomas.

But Ellis is all for the togetherness.

"To me, the students will be a close-knit bunch," Ellis said of the academies. "They will probably get sick of each other but still care about each other."

creech@wilsontimes.com | 265-7822