posted May 15, 2008
There is no doubt that The Howard School struggles as an educational community. Year after year students deal with large amounts of turnover and new administration. But, despite these changes, there is a core group of faculty members and counseling staff that has provided enough stability to make unbelievable progress. While the media relishes in reporting the negative and poorly investigates their academic facts, there are great things happening there. Despite increases in gang violence in their community, they continue to make improvements.
Over the past several years the graduation rate has steadily increased. They are now graduating more students and, of the students graduating, over half are going on to college.
I know there is room for improvement, but the students Howard is pumping out are starting to grasp the importance of education. This year the senior class submitted 274 college applications and over 60% were accepted. We are not just talking about Chattanooga State and UTC, we are talking about Spelman College, University of Memphis, UTK, and Rochester Institute of Technology in New York…and that is just to name a few. A large group of seniors were accepted at colleges throughout the Southeast and beyond, not just the top 10%. One hundred students out of the Class of 2008 have a college to go to this fall.
Not only did these students get accepted, they received a substantial amount of scholarships and not just need-based scholarships. The total amount of their scholarships is well over a million dollars for a class size of 130. Many of the scholarships earned were academic scholarships.
There are several factors that contribute to this success. Their senior counselor, Hilary Smith, has been a great source of stability over the last three years and has insisted on students taking the ACT multiple times. Teachers such as Portia Bragg, Miriam Wohlfarth, and Donna Taheri (only to name a few) have tirelessly worked with students on their resumes and essays.
The new administration, led by Dr. Paul Smith, encourages students to aim higher and follows up with students to make sure they are on target. With this emphasis it is not a surprise that ACT scores have increased and college acceptance rates have increased. Years ago it would be unusual for Howard students to earn ACT scores at the state average, but several this year have scored well above average with ACT sub-scores at 24, 25, 26 and 27.
As their college advisor, it has been a pleasure working with the students at Howard. I have seen first-hand the pressure this school has been under and the obstacles these students have overcome. Some of our seniors have been homeless and have still found a way to persevere and graduate. Many live with parents that not only participate in drug and alcohol use, they encourage their children to partake or make it harder for them to succeed by allowing drugs to be a financial burden. Graduating, improving their ACT scores, and going to college in all likelihood could be the least of their concerns, but it is not.
Despite these obstacles, the majority of this class of Howard students will be striving for better by attending college this fall. The only thing that scares me for these students is the idea that they will be doing it all on their own …no guidance counselor, no college advisor, and no principal to follow up behind them because they care. Sure, they will meet new people…but wow, talk about getting out of your comfort zone and bulking up with courage to enter the world of college. This is a daunting task for any senior, but especially for our seniors at Howard.
As a Hamilton County community, we need to encourage these students to follow through with this collegiate endeavor and congratulate Howard for the successes that are really taking place.
LeAnn W. Welch, Ed.D.
Signal Mountain
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Thank you for the wonderful account of the changes occurring at Howard School of Academics and Technology.
I would like to add Dr. Elizabeth Renneisen to their list of outstanding and supportive educators. Dr. Renneisen is now at Tyner High Academy but she was very instrumental in the academic development and success of students during her many years at Howard.
Thanks to Dr. Renneisen's superb work with her honors English class, my daughter, who is entering her junior year at Tennessee Technological University, was praised by her professors for her vast knowledge of literature and preparedness for her college English courses.
This year Dr. Renneisen was named educator of the year and I was slightly taken aback that she received this honor only after leaving Howard.
Also to thank is Dr. Elaine Swafford who was secretly dubbed Joe Clark by the students. Her leadership immensely impacted the positive direction that Howard is moving toward.
V. Elisabeth Myers
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