News

There's nothing normal about Fuller Normal

September 14, 2008

For thousands of families around South Carolina, the words "back to school" are often met with sad faces, heavy sighs, anxiety and even trepidation. It's a common occurrence, unless you are a student, parent or educator associated with Fuller Normal Advanced Technology Charter School.

As the school year opens, we are finding enthusiasm, with all parties genuinely excited about getting back into the classroom. Even our parents are excited, and not because the kids are out of the house. It's because at Fuller Normal, parents play an integral, critical and active role. Our students, their parents and our faculty see Fuller Normal not as a school, or as the school. They see Fuller Normal as their school.

For families, not just students, Fuller Normal is a place to share ideas, to challenge and be challenged, to learn about and to take responsibility, to watch the seeds of future success being planted knowing they will benefit the greater community. That makes all the difference in the world.

So what makes Fuller Normal so special? It is a charter school, an independent but publicly funded school open to all students, regardless of income, race, gender or religion. It is legally bound to honor and uphold the mission, goals and programs outlined in the "charter" under which it was created. That in itself does not make Fuller Normal any more special than other school. But there are some unique things about the charter school experience and specifically at Fuller Normal that make us uniquely special.

Consider that for many of our students, we offer a measure of structure and discipline unavailable to them elsewhere. We give them more than an opportunity to listen. We give them the freedom to learn and the confidence to excel. We nurture but we do not coddle, we celebrate every success large and small, we hold ourselves and our students to a degree of accountability and personal responsibility not only to themselves, but to their families and to their fellow students.

At Fuller Normal, students, parents and teachers function as a team and teammates hold one another accountable. The result is a tremendous pride in being a part of something greater than ourselves. We like to say "I can, we will -- together."

What else makes Fuller Normal special? You can see it in the students' eyes who when met with a challenge, brighten up when reminded they are special and that with hard work, can do all things. With class sizes averaging 15 students per class for grades K through seventh, our teachers have the opportunity and the ability to spend more time educating and less time dealing with disciplinary issues.

As our enrollment has grown -- evidence that students and parents are becoming our greatest ambassadors, from 107 in 2006-2007, our inaugural year, to 197 students this fall -- so has the interest from education professionals who proactively seek opportunities to practice their profession in our Fuller Normal community. These teachers want to teach in this environment because for them the personal and professional satisfaction they receive when students not only learn but show a desire to learn more is a nice reminder of why they chose to be educators.

While our policy of school uniforms is not unique, it is an important component to our successful Fuller Normal formula. It allows for some financial savings towards clothing, and also means that academic competition gets more attention than style competition. That is important for many reasons, but especially since our students are in college preparation classrooms from day one.

Charter schools are not the single cure-all for our state's educational challenges. They are one solution that clearly meets the needs of some, and Fuller Normal is a successful example. To those who question the validity of offering some form of public alternative in today's education environment, I say look no further than Fuller Normal. With so much debate over so many things, our charter school is not just an experiment; it is a rewarding, fulfilling experience for our students, our parents and our faculty.

For the families it is a sense of doing the right thing for the children. For the students, it is an opportunity to feel the warmth of confidence, of knowing that there is indeed great potential within. Let's celebrate that fact! Let's celebrate that in a school in Greenville, there are rooms full of students, some deemed at risk, some not, who are back in the classroom with enthusiasm, passion and commitment.

GreenvilleOnline.com
By Brenda Humbert