Dunedin High Is One of County's Newest Fundamental Programs

A batch of 80 fundamental students is accepted to enter ’s new fundamental program this fall.

Dunedin is now one of three fundamental high schools in Pinellas County, along with Boca Ciega in St. Petersburg and Osceola in Seminole. (The county also has three middle and five elementary fundamental school programs.)

“Fundamental schools are schools of choice, and emphasize principles that set them apart from non-fundamental schools,” said Dunedin High School Principal Reuben Hepburn. “The Dunedin High Fundamental School within a School (SWAS) environment will provide for those who work best where expectations are clearly defined. A strong emphasis is placed on the home and school working together to promote successful learning.”

A fundamental school uses a back-to-basics, family-oriented approach with mutual parent-teacher-student commitment. Parents are required to attend all conferences and monthly parent meetings, and the dress code is a little stricter than that of the school district, said Judy Vigue, director of advanced studies and academic excellence with Pinellas County Schools.

According to Hepburn, the fundamental program and the general population of the school should include good teaching and learning practices; the only thing that makes the new program different from the general education students is the signed contract between teachers, students and parents, where everyone is aware of the expectations and consequences, which can include getting kicked out of the program.

One basic expectation of students: coming to class with materials – books, paper, pencil. Otherwise, they receive a demerit.

“It really creates a system of accountability where the teacher, the student and the parents are all on the same page,” he said. He added that he wants to make sure the new students don’t feel alienated, so really these practices should be “embedded in all corners of the school.”

Also, families and students agree to follow the practices of fundamental or magnet schools, such as not participating in sports or extra-curricular activities at any other Pinellas County public school upon application. For example, if a student is on the football team at their last school, they cannot immediately join the football team at their new fundamental school.

Dunedin High School has about 1,400 students on a relatively new campus that underwent extensive new construction and renovation in 2001.

Hepburn said the program is still going through open enrollment and he expects 100 fundamental students by summer’s end. The school now has 1,400 students, down from 1,800 last year.

“We’ve done a lot to prepare and we’re still preparing,” he said, including interviewing teachers for the program. All the hiring is being done from within, he said.

Clearwater High School had also made an effort to become a fundamental school, but ultimately the school board approved only Dunedin.

Dunedin High’s location on Pinehurst Road, north of State Road 580, was better suited for people in the north part of the county.

Parents must provide transportation for their children — there is no bus service for fundamental students at Dunedin High School.

The demand for the county’s fundamental and magnet programs far exceeds the availability, so a computer-generated selection process determines new students, who are assigned a random number.

Vigue said that 1,030 students applied to enter ninth grade at one or more county fundamental program for the 2011-2012 school year. Of the students who applied, 670 were accepted, she said, including the 75 (now 80) at Dunedin High.

Details

• The High School Fundamental SWAS Program at Dunedin High, 1651 Pinehurst Road, begins this fall.
• For more information or to apply for a fundamental school, visit the Pinellas County School Board website.

(This article was updated May 20, 2011, at 12:01 p.m.)