Albert Hill Middle School Becomes a Popular Choice for Munford Students
Albert Hill Middle School has become an increasingly popular choice for students after they leave Mary Munford Elementary school. Principal Michael Kight and his staff have worked hard to change the image of Hill by addressing some false myths and by viewing the schools incredible diversity as its biggest asset. The Times-Dispatch featured Kight and the incredibly work he’s done on its front page yesterday.
Albert Hill is home to students from the top to the bottom of the city’s economic scale, with its zone ranging from the public housing in Gilpin Court to the loftiest homes in the West End. With white students making up 24 percent of the student body, the school is also the most diverse racially.
“I don’t think you can get that diversity anywhere else in the city,” he [Kight] said. “When our kids leave here, they’re comfortable in any situation. Now, in the sixth grade, it’s a little awkward at first, but after the first semester, they’re used to it. You see kids from Carver meeting kids from Munford, and they realize they’re all the same.”
It sounds to me like Kight might have read a book, called Debunking the Middle Class Myth, about why raising our children in a diverse environment is so important.
I’m glad that the story of Albert Hill Middle School is being told. Some Munford kids will get into the IB Program at Lucille Brown, some will go to Henrico County or private schools, but most will choose to attend Albert Hill. And thanks to Kight, that is a very good option.
In 2004-05, Hill had the lowest enrollment of the city’s nine middle schools, and projections were for the number to continue dropping. He said enrollment was projected to bottom out at 250 students.
Instead, Hill now has more than 500 students, pushing it up to fifth of the city’s nine middle schools. Though the building could hold more students, Hill is at program capacity because of the city’s three-tier approach to middle schools. (Each school has regular, honors and advanced courses, each of which requires classroom space.)
Last year, Kight recieved the R.E.B. Distinguished Educational Leadersip Award and Hill teacher Steve Beckett (a former classmate of mine) received an R.E.B. Award for Teaching Excellence. There are lots of very dedicated and talented folks at Hill and I happy to see that the community is taking note. To learn more about Albert Hill, you can visit the Museum District Association’s website.
Thanks for posting this. It’s encouraging to see that some parents in the city are choosing to stick around and/or keep their kids in public school.
It just goes to show what can happen when people decide to support their local school and actually send their children to public school. Kudos to those parents, children, and the staff at Albert Hill.
[...] Jonah, from Near West End News, has posted on the recent success of Albert Hill Middle. Principle Michael Kight (pictured above) and his staff have been working hard to change the image of school, essentially doubling the enrollment from 250 to 500 students over the past five years. Kight and some of his fellow colleagues have received some distinguished awards from the R.E.B. and Community foundations for their efforts. For the full post, check out – Albert Hill Becomes a Popular Choice for Munford Students. [...]
With a school boasting about diversity, I was shocked when I did not see any diversity on their soccer team. Are children of different ages considered or was there no interest?
I cannot count the number of city friends we lost to the suburbs when it was time for middle school. My son, who in a few weeks is graduating from Maggie Walker Governor’s School and heading off to college, went through Albert Hill four years ago. (My older son went from Munford to Binford.) Then, Hill was also popular with Munford students (although this particular son didn’t go there) and therefore growing stronger, largely through the support of Munford families. Now, I’m heartened to learn Albert Hill is growing, expanding and, I hope, improving academically. Tackling that reality is vital…This is beyond improving the image of the school. It was a “good” school when my son went through but it was far from a “great” school and courses failed to really challenge many bright students. That’s where the real work is–creating an academic culture of excellence — that serves all students — with energetic and well-educated teachers (with master’s degrees and even doctorates in their subject matters) to make our city middle schools competitive with the county and private schools–particularly in the areas of math and science performance and more challenging courses in the humanities. When we achieve that, the cul de sacs culture will have a hard time competing with the quality of life inside the city limits.
I attend Albert Hill it is a lot of fun there because you make new friends regardless of their race or their religion.. I am sure that whoever decides to come is going to be sad when they graduate because you are going to miss that school so much and the people you met there.