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Fruithurst definitely has something that sets it apart from other schools in rural Alabama. It's the red brick elementary school about 200 yards north of U.S. 78. Some 220 youngsters go to school there, and 72 percent of them receive free or reduced price lunches. Considering that the median household income in Fruithurst is only 66 percent of the state's average, this is not a surprise.
But what is a surprise is how well these students perform in the classroom.
Free or reduced lunch kids are not supposed to do very well in class. But someone forgot to get this message to Fruithurst Elementary. Take the scores from the 2006-07 school year for fourth-grade math.
The Alabama reading and math test breaks results into four categories: level 1 (does not meet standards), level 2 (partially meets standards), level 3 (meets standards) and level 4 (exceeds standards).
Last year, 78 percent of this little country school's fourth-graders on free or reduced lunches were level 4, 22 percent were level 3, none were level 1 or 2.
This was 42 points better than the state average for free or reduced lunch students and better than any other system in the state. (Since the Mountain Brook system has no free or reduced lunch students, this system was not compared.)
But pick any other system -- Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Huntsville, Auburn, you name it -- and the kids from this tiny east Alabama community outperformed them. |
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This remarkable accomplishment has not gone unnoticed. The Alabama Department of Education has selected Fruithurst as a "Torchbearer" school, one of only 10 such rural schools in the state. It was recently awarded $45,000 for reaching certain goals.
And you don't have to roam the halls long to realize this is a genuine belief.
"We have truly dedicated teachers," says Principal Christy Hiett, who went to school at Fruithurst and returned to teach after graduating from Auburn University. "Plus, we work really hard at making sure we continually reinforce lessons that have already been taught. For example, we teach math constantly by keeping up with the days in the month, the daily weather report, counting money and any other way we can think of."
What might be best described as "sense of community" figures prominently in the school's success. Like Hiett, six of the 14 teachers live in the community. Superintendent Scott Coefield, a native of Cleburne County, was principal at Fruithurst for several years. His wife, Tammy, also a native of the county, was also principal there.
"In a way, this school is Fruithurst," says Hiett. "People here are proud of the school and very supportive."
The fact that the recent Fall Festival (the school's only fundraiser) made $11,000 and was the most successful ever bears out Hiett's contention.
The real lesson of Fruithurst Elementary is simply this: Regardless of their circumstances, children should not be hampered by the low expectations of adults.
Fruithurst has set very high standards. But if students there can do it, others can as well. And that's a lesson for all of us. |
