Huntsville City Schools Magnet Programs? (Redstone Arsenal: middle school, income, live in)

[Mary Mom]

Hello,
I am new to Huntsville and new to this forum.

I would like to inquire about the magnet program at Williams P-8 school. Specifically the Gifted and Talented Academy.

My rising 6th grade child has been accepted for this program. We were very pleased based on the introduction and information we were given during the orientation and "open house" in the spring.

Now I am hearing rumors of activity at Williams School that greatly concerns me. Stories of an inebriated teacher interacting with students at school and a school wide evacuation of all buildings due to a teacher smoking an e-cigarette in the science chem lab, and a lack of discipline school wide are making me reconsider my decision to allow my child to participate in this program.

Does anyone here have experience with magnet programs in HCS? Do they honor their promises and provide effective instruction in a safe environment for all children?

I understand this is a new magnet program and there are always wrinkles to be ironed out of anything new. Does the community of Huntsville consider HCS to provide safe and outstanding educational opportunities for gifted students?

[zenjenn]

Hi Mary Mom. My child will be a classmate of your child next year at AGT! (Or at least will be, if you decide not to pull out.)

Let me share my thoughts:

I can neither confirm nor deny any rumors you've heard, but Williams is a Title I school. No Title I school is going to be devoid of issues. Heck, no school PERIOD is going to be devoid of issues - if you want to feel out disturbing rumors, you can hear them about pretty much any school.

As far as Title I schools go, Williams is on balance very clean and safe. (Well you were there - you saw it - not at all like the graffiti-ridden, sketchy cesspool like the Title I school I last lived near in Los Angeles County.)

A lot of the Title I status has to do with the fact that the school is attended by many children from lower-income transient military families, as the school is located near Redstone Arsenal and near a lot of housing affordable to low-income families.

Magnet programs are often placed in lower income school, as it brings in more families with resources to invest in a school community. This is probably doubly true of HCS because of the consent order. It is what it is.

Now as you saw at the open house, the AGT students will be largely isolated from the rest of the school in terms of their daily courses. They will spend almost all day with their three gifted teachers in the elementary side of the school. (Something I like, as when I was growing up, sixth grade was part of elementary anyways. I feel the way they have 6th grade AGT set up is a nice hybrid transition for 6th graders.)

I know several people who know Dr. Thorson both personally and professionally and have nothing but wonderful things to say about him, and I've been personally impressed with him myself. I also love that he's an alumnus of the Alabama School of Math and Science - he has first hand experience as a student in terms of understanding what a magnet program for gifted students should be.

AGT is unique. And it's new. I'm not sure it's fair to even compare it to any successes or failures in the district's other magnet programs. It's impossible to say whether AGT will deliver on all its promises. But what I *do* know is that it is the only program of its kind in Huntsville, and not many programs like it exist anywhere. The program offers many opportunities my child would not get at any other middle school.

I, for one, am willing to take my chances on what I see as a unique opportunity for my child. I really don't see any downside, (other than an irritating commute to school from where we are). If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. You can always pull your kid out.

Your concerns are not isolated, and frankly, mostly from families who live in upper-middle class areas. The reality is that it that Williams is a diverse, Title I school. That makes some people uncomfortable, and I think makes any incidents or rumors loom *larger than life* in imaginations. Having spoken with people whose kids attend the school, I haven't heard anything alarming or that would make me concerned for my child's safety anymore than I would be at Hampton Cove Middle.