San Antonio's School of Excellence

[hoosier]

'Old school' ideas are new again here

: 09/19/2004 12:00 AM CDT

Jeanne Russell
San Antonio Express-News

The strict School of Excellence in Education rules are not posted in classrooms, but rather witnessed in subtle gestures, such as a high school student's quick, covert tucking in of his shirttail before he meets Superintendent Ricky Hooker's eye.

Hooker's Southern upbringing, his background as an Army officer, coach, teacher and school principal, his work as a minister, all infuse a Christian-influenced educational philosophy that begins and ends with discipline.

And if you measure success by size, Hooker is succeeding.

The School of Excellence, San Antonio's largest charter school, grew this year from 1,043 to 1,520 students, added a new campus and more than doubled its staff.

Students wear uniforms. Kissing is forbidden. Girls can wear only one pair of earrings. Boys are expected to open doors and pull out chairs for girls. Students who disobey get paddled.

"There was no 'time out' when I was growing up. My mother said 'move,' she meant 'now,'" said Hooker, 47, who argues that it's better to swat a kid and send him back to class five minutes later than have him spend a semester in "in-school suspension" and fall behind in reading.

Hooker markets his charter school as a "private school education at a public school price." He says he asked two questions before taking the job: Could he fire teachers? Could he use corporal punishment?

Paddling is a bit of a throwback, the most controversial practice of a self-professed "old-school" educator. New Jersey was the first state to ban corporal punishment in 1967, and its use has fallen steadily in the three decades since then, although 23 states, including Texas, still allow it.

Charter schools are public schools that were authorized by the Texas Legislature to foster innovation and offer options to parents not served by traditional public schools.

The School of Excellence hints at the promise of charter schools — an option for parents that is unlike a typical public school. All three campuses are in former churches, and the lines between a religious and a secular education are far blurrier than at a neighborhood school.

But San Antonio's 24 public charter schools, which receive state funds and cannot charge tuition, have mostly struggled academically and financially, like many throughout the state.

Now Hooker's test is to start demonstrating consistently strong academic results.

Student test scores, like those of most charter schools, tended to be lower in the upper grades. Scores on science and math were particularly poor, with just 38 percent meeting the state standard in 10th-grade science. At one of the two campuses, 79 percent of fourth-graders met the state reading standard.

"They have some good test scores, but some of their scores are very low," said Patsy O'Neill, director of the Charter School Resource Center.

O'Neill readily acknowledges few of San Antonio's charter schools have excelled academically, a fact she attributes in part to students who may have fallen behind or even dropped out of regular public schools.

Hooker predicts his charter school, one of just seven in San Antonio choosing to be rated, will earn a "recognized" label this October. In just his second year, Hooker said he's hired specialists in science and math and added advanced courses.

"I don't think it's so bad that the test scores were low," Hooker said. "What is the prognosis for recovery?"

His teachers are young and inexperienced and mostly uncertified. Hooker fired eight of 49 last year.

"Is it the ultimate challenge? Yes. Will I have a ton of certified teachers? No. I will have a ton of School of Excellence certified teachers," Hooker said, explaining how he seeks to mentor and offer advancement opportunities to teachers.

Teacher Nicole Savadin taught in the Bexar County Detention Center last year and visited public and private schools before signing up to teach speech here.

"It's kind of a nice mix of private and public school. The paddling — I love that," she said.

Despite the lingering threat of "Ole Thunder," the theatrical superintendent is clearly adored as much as his paddle is feared, and students flock around him for hugs between classes.

Ninth-grader Josh Talley came to the school in seventh grade, in part because his family attends the Family Praise Center, which founded the school.

Under Hooker, Talley said, "it got stricter. That's a good thing, considering I don't get disciplined on a regular basis."