Decisions, Progress Made At Turner/Bartels K-8 As School Year Nears

By Kelly Miller

When school resumes in Hillsborough County on August 19, there will be a new, non-magnet K-8 Center in New Tampa —the Turner/Bartels K-8 School — and some big announcements for the new school have been made in recent weeks.

It takes a considerable amount of work to combine two campuses (Hilda T. Turner Elementary and Nancy Bartels Middle School, both located on Imperial Oak Blvd. in the Live Oak Preserve community off Bruce B. Downs [BBD] Blvd.) into one entity. To make that happen, Principal Jonathan Grantham Ed.D., his entire staff, and parents have been working together diligently to ensure that there will be a smooth transition in the fall.

Since taking over in June, Dr. Grantham — who earned his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ed.D. degrees from Florida State University in Tallahassee and specializes in personnel, finance, curriculum and instruction within the K-12 environment — says he has worked hard to keep an open line of communication with parents. Most recently, Grantham held an informational meeting on June 16 to announce many of the K-8 school’s filled staff positions.

Laura Wilton will be the new assistant principal for administration. Wilton has worked in the Hillsborough County School District (HCSD) for 22 years and has been an assistant principal for the past eight at Adams Middle School in North Tampa. Wilton earned her B.S. degree in Elementary Education and her M.A. degree in Linguistics from the University of South Florida here in Tampa.

Dr. Grantham also announced that Nicole Tuminella and Christine Angel Danger have filled the two STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) coordinator positions. Tuminella had been a Mentor Evaluator at Bartels since 2011 and Danger was a resource teacher in the STEM program at Turner since 2013.
Since Turner/Bartels K-8 School is a STEM School, the curriculum will use math skills and apply science concepts to solve real-life engineering problems. The program focuses on teaching children how to think critically, solve complex problems and drive advancements in science and technology.

Inside the classroom, STEM learning will incorporate LEGO® Mindstorms® robotics (kits containing software and hardware that kids use to create customizable, programmable robots), the LEGO® Build to Express program (in which program students are challenged with a topic, then work to build a model and share their results) and Pasco SPARK probeware (an electronic device that enables students to conduct scientific experiments in or out of the classroom). These innovative learning tools will inspire Turner-Bartels students to think like engineers and provide fundamental STEM knowledge that will springboard students along a STEM pathway into high school and beyond. Outside the classroom, STEM learning includes STEM Goes to Work and Saturdays with STEM.

In addition, Lourdes Gonzalez was hired as the new school social worker, a position she previously had held at H.B. Plant High (located in South Tampa) since 2012. Amy Addison will be one of the four new guidance counselors. Addison previously was a guidance counselor at Thonotosassa Elementary since 2005. The other three will be announced at a later date. Seven new teachers also have also been hired, while several others have transferred to other schools.

“The number of students in middle school (Bartels) decreased, as did the amount of teachers needed,” Dr. Grantham explains.

Other important decisions announced for Turner/Bartels include:
The school mascot will be a Bengal Tiger (a combination of both schools’ previous mascots of the Turner Tigers and Bartels Bengals).
• An 8 x 10–foot digital marquee will be erected.
• A covered walkway will be constructed between the two campuses that should be completed by August 13.
• The exterior of both buildings will be painted to match each other, using neutral colors.
• A new dismissal process will be created, using four entry and four exit points.
After Dr. Grantham spoke at the June meeting, parents and teachers broke into two groups to form a

Classroom/Building Assignments committee and a Marketing committee, an initiative created by Dr. Grantham so that parents and teachers can be more involved in the choices implemented at the new school. The Classroom committee visited every room on both campuses to decide where each grade should be housed for the 2014-15 school year.

After the committee made their recommendations to Dr. Grantham, he decided that the lower campus (formerly Turner Elementary) will house Pre-K, kindergarten, first grade, second grade and five classes of third grade. The upper campus (formerly Bartels Middle School) will house six classes of third grade as well as the entire fourth-eighth grades.

“Each grade level of the upper campus will be isolated and will operate in silos of each other,” Dr. Grantham explained. “The intermingling of multiple grade levels of students will not be compromised and each grade level has been strategically placed to ensure there will be a safe and orderly learning environment.” He adds that parents of upcoming third graders who would like their children considered for the lower campus should call him at 907-6801.

“As a father of an incoming third grader, my son will be on the upper campus and will have no issues,” Dr. Grantham says.

The Marketing committee members discussed their choices for school motto, logo, and uniform. Dr. Grantham wanted the decision made as soon as possible so parents would have plenty of time for back-to-school shopping. A survey was then posted on the Turner/Bartels K-8 School website (TurnerBartels.mysdhc.org) for parents to vote on their favorite choices. After the results were tabulated, it was decided that:
• The uniform colors for the polo shirts will be navy blue and maroon. (The only two exceptions are “spirit shirts,” which may be worn on Fridays, and white collared blouses or polo-style shirts may be worn under girls’ navy, maroon, or solid tan-colored khaki uniform jumpers.)
• Uniform colors for pants, shorts, skorts and skirts will be solid navy blue, black, tan-colored khaki, and unadorned denim. (It is recommended that denim should only be worn on Fridays.)
• The school logo is a shield with the font similar to the Tampa Bay Rays (photo).
The school motto will be “Learn, Excel and Create at Turner/Bartels K-8.”

“The community has been great,” Dr. Grantham explained. “We’ve made many tough decisions together and the process has produced some outstanding conversation and results.”

The hours for Turner/Bartels K-8 School will be 8:45 a.m.–3:35 p.m. Parents have expressed some concern because of the extra 35 minutes tacked on to the elementary-aged children’s day.

“We are trying to incorporate more time for electives, such as art, music and physical education,” Dr. Grantham says.

If you need to set up an appointment to meet or speak with Dr. Grantham, please contact his secretary, Michelle Cranford, at 907-6801.