The charter school at A.A. Dixon has a new name – “Dixon School of the Arts.” For most of last year, Superintendent Malcolm Thomas and his school board did everything they could to close the school, even publicly ridiculing school officials and its board president, Rev. Lutimothy May.
Then the miracle happened. When the FCAT scores and school grades came back, Dixon outperformed several of Thomas’ schools and showed the largest gains in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, despite the test and grading system being much more difficult.
The success has attracted the attention of business and community leaders who understand the value of education and how successful charter schools have been in other inner-city areas.
Yesterday Dixon School of the Arts dedicated its new music lab in honor of Mary McMahon Perdue, a Chicago school teacher and mother of Rishy Studer. The Studers had made the donations necessary to equip the lab.
Principal Wendy Bennett explained, “We infuse the arts across our curriculum. Yes, we focus on the academics, but for so many reasons, our charter also emphasizes the arts-visual, dance, piano, percussion and voice.”
At the dedication ceremony, the Dixon School Choir sang the school song, “I will survive,” which was written by their teacher Michael Lett. It is a song of hope and determination that a standing ovation from those in attendance.
Rev. May thanked the Studers and several in audience for their support–Teri Levin and Robert Rinke who purchased buses last year to help with transportation (the buses that Thomas tried to force on them is another story for another day), Gail Husbands, retired teacher and former president of the teachers’ union, who is helping with teacher development, Innisfree that sponsored field trips and pool parties, John Peacock who has made generous donations to the school, Lumon May who did much of the renovation work at the school and Bill Dollarhide who made sure the school got the best musical equipment.
Rev. May gave each of them a multi-colored pinwheel. “This is the symbol for our school. The pinwheel represents the potential of each and every student in our school, regardless of color or creed. For it to spin, the pinwheel needs wind.”
Looking at the crowd, May went on, “We create the wind. That’s what we as parents, administrators, teachers and business partners do so that each child reaches his or her potential.”