| Fred J. Page High School
Franklin, Tennessee
Page High School, located in Franklin, Tennessee, is a comprehensive high school situated in picturesque southeastern Williamson County. Our student body currently numbers 880 student in grades 9-12. Page has a very diverse student body, composed of students from rural and suburban areas of the community. Page High School opened in the fall of 1976 as a 7-12 school. A separate middle school was added adjacent the high school in 1981. Since opening there have been four major renovation projects including the addition of a new gym, nine science labs, four computer labs, state of the art media center, and several new athletic facilities.
| "United in the pursuit of excellence. We educate each student by valuing respect, responsibility, and relevancy in a dynamic and enlightening environment.” |
Page offers a wide selection of courses and programs presented through a variety of teaching methods designed to meet the needs of the individual student (A complete program of studies is available on our web page). Page High has been recognized by educators across the nation as an outstanding educational institution and has been visited by personnel from many schools in the state. Advanced placement courses are offered in eleven different subject areas: biology, calculus, physics B&C, psychology, economics, U.S. Literature and composition, 12th grade, Spanish language and Spanish Literature. Enrollment in these courses has more than doubled, from 70 slots to over 180, in the last two years.
Several school reform efforts are currently underway at Page. Site based management utilizing the Effective Schools concept and participation in the Southern regional Education Board's High Schools That Work program have brought about many improvements in programs and instructional methodologies.
Examples are:
- Elimination of all basic classes
- Alternate Day Block Schedule; ninety minute instructional periods
- Directed Study period (designed to provide opportunity for extra help and academic support)
- Career Education and Two Path Curriculum with focus on all students continuing education beyond high school
- Site based decision Making- Effective Schools
- Extensive Staff Development Program in Effective Instructional Strategies, including Socratic Seminars, Cooperative Learning, Application of Learning, Writing Across the Curriculum, Interdisciplinary Instruction
- Extra Help Network
- Peer Mediation and Anger Management
- Freshmen Transition Programs
- Integration and expansion of technology
- Upgrading of all Vocational Classes to include college preparatory curriculum
- Incorporating Application of Knowledge, Problem Solving and Critical Thinking into all courses
A state of the art Media Center is available for student and teacher use. Media center staff are available to assist with research, developing presentations and lesson plans, and to guide students and teachers through the use of a variety of media, including Internet and Intranet, desk top video conferencing, and video production studio. The school web page, http://www.wcs.edu/phs/main.html, includes information about the media center and instructional pages for finding, evaluating and documenting resources.
The resource department's goal is to mainstream as many special needs students as possible into regular high school curriculum courses. It is the philosophy of the department, and the school as a whole, that high expectations are the primary motivator of students. Special needs students are no exception. Recognizing, however, that when expectations are raised, the need to provide additional support and help for these students and their classroom teachers becomes critical. To this end, the department began a program of “shared teaching” four years ago. This program pairs a resource teaching with a regular classroom teacher to co-teach the course. This program has been very successful to the extent that there has been a lack of resource personnel to try and meet the demand from regular classroom teachers who are interested in this arrangement. In addition, special needs students are provided work study skills, proficiency classes, and consultation study halls.
| "...A Scholars Program is available that is designed to meet the academic needs of those students who desire to pursue a rigorous course of study with requirements beyond accelerated and Advanced Placement." |
A career counseling center provides all students with various services designed to help the student grow and develop in the areas of academic, career, and social concerns. Three guidance counselors and a registrar comprise the counseling staff. Our guidance center also includes a Career Center that provides students with an opportunity to explore career choices and training beyond high school.
Academic excellence is an expectation for all students at Page High School. To promote excellence, and to encourage students to strive to be their best, the faculty has developed a program called REACH (Rewarding Excellence And Climbing Higher). Academic achievement, attendance, appropriate behavior/citizenship, and improvement are rewarded and recognized through this program. An academic reception honoring these students is held in the spring. Students achieving high academic standing receive an academic letter at the reception. In addition, a Scholars Program is available that is designed to meet the academic needs of those students who desire to pursue a rigorous course of study with requirements beyond accelerated and Advanced Placement.
All graduating seniors from Page High School are required to complete a Senior Project. This project is a culminating activity designed to showcase and assess the knowledge, skill, creativity, and competencies developed over the student's twelve years of education. Each student must investigate a topic of their choosing, produce an extensive research paper, a product related to the topic, and document the work through a portfolio. The results of this work are presented at the end of the school year to a panel of faculty and community members with expertise in the subject areas.
All students are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities. Page offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities as well as an excellent interscholastic sports programs. All athletic facilities have recently undergone or are currently undergoing major renovations and upgrades.
Page High School is fortunate to have excellent support from parents and the community. Formal support groups include the Parent-Teacher-Student Organization, Athletic Booster Club, Quarterback Club, and Band Boosters. In addition, a Parent's Volunteer group logged over 1000 hours during the school work day last year.
Several Page faculty have been recognized for their accomplishments, including; Mr. Joe Yeager, Tennessee Principal of the Year, 1994; Mrs. Eileen Crenshaw, Humanities Teacher of the Year, 1994; Dr. Ron Thompson, Humanities Teacher of the Year, 1996; Mrs. Angie Ketchum, Science Teacher of the Year, 1996, Mrs. Pat Jones, Williamson County Teacher of the Year, 1997. Many of the teachers at Page are regular presenters at workshops and provide training for other systems and the state department.
Description by Page High School, Fall, 1998 |
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