Rocky is a mixed-Labrador retriever that roams through the halls of L. Hollingworth School for the talented and gifted in East Toledo.

Rocky is not there for behavior modification purposes, nor is he one of the talented and gifted students. The lab is basically a pet, but school administrators say students enjoy interacting with Rocky.

This spring, the K-6 Hollingworth will be completing its first full school year, having opened in the former Sacred Heart building at 824 Sixth Street last fall. Executive director and co-founder Terrence C. Franklin says the former Catholic diocese building is the perfect fit.

“I like to think of it as kind of meant to be. We were, I think, looking at the right time and the right place. We are just so thankful that we have this opportunity. We had been looking at various properties throughout Toledo,” Franklin said.

“We were committed, obviously, in being in Lucas County. We wanted to be within the east side community because we think there are a lot of needs here and we’d like to help and support that. So, give it may, we were able to find out this opportunity last year that the school was going to be coming available. The rest is history, as they say.”

The chartered school currently has 92 students enrolled and Franklin estimates Hollingworth could serve a maximum of 180 to 200. Students must reside in Lucas or an adjacent county. One student enrolled for next school year will be commuting from Blissfield, Michigan, administrators say.

The school has 13 faculty members, including administrators, teachers, and leadership positions. Joining Franklin in key positions are Curriculum Director Lois Fuller, Director of Special Education Services Kerry K. Horrigan, and Director of Compliance and Finance Debbie S. Steward.

Franklin says the school has developed a partnership with Collingwood Art Center and is moving towards a partnership with Lourdes College.

“We’re always very open and receptive to partnering with anyone out there, whether it’s TPS (Toledo Public Schools), whether it’s a different kind of organization, to be able to help join us in this fight to improve the academic integrity of our children,” Franklin said.

There is no cost to attend Hollingworth, but there is a strict dress code. A dress code is proving to be popular with parents whose children attend TPS.

“It eliminates competition with the dress. We have a high poverty rate here and if everyone is in a dress code, you can’t tell by looking at a child whether their parents can afford more or less,” said Fuller.

Franklin added, “What we’re hoping you’re getting is really kind of a private school feel, really specialized services, and really being in tune to the child’s learning at no cost. We are considered to be a community chartered school. We are not at all affiliated with TPS. Although we may be open to working with them, and there are projects that may be mutually beneficial to both programs.
“We think that really the key is for everybody to get on the same page with one agenda and to be able to support the children where they are. We just see ourselves as being another opportunity, another option out there to be able to help support that and not take away from it.”

The school is named for Leta Stetter Hollingworth, a psychologist who lived from 1886-1939. As one enters the building, there is information on the front door explaining her historical relevance.

“(She) was one of the premier pioneers in talented and giftedness from many, many years ago. The name does have some relevance, obviously,” Franklin said.

Defining “gifted”
“We want to make sure that everyone gets the right impression on what our purpose is for, and our purpose is to help supplement those important services that children sometimes are not able to receive,” Franklin said. “One, they may not be able to afford going to any kind of talented and gifted kind of program, and so our thought was let’s bring a program to them free of charge so that they have an opportunity to be able to maximize their learning.”

A “gifted” student is defined as one who “performs or shows potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared to others of their age, experience, or environment” by the Ohio Revised Code.

Franklin, who commutes from suburban Detroit, says the school goes beyond educating the talented and gifted.

“It was defined for everyone, so it’s not closed to any particular student because of academic ability,” Franklin said. “We are completely open. It is a school of choice, which means that anyone can go.

“One of the things I was noticing in my years of being in administration and education was often times we were finding that many of the children exhibited signs of talent or giftedness, but for whatever reason were being missed or maybe not really being identified. So, our thought was to create an environment in a school that would be able to support academic acceleration by working with each individual child where they are. The ultimate goal is that every student that comes to us, we’ll be able to maximize their learning potential 100 percent.”

Fuller added, “One thing that is very different is that we don’t necessarily use age-appropriate. We assess all our children and then begin them where they have a level of success and then we move them forward. So that’s very different. It has eliminated behavior problems, boredom, and frustration problems for the children.

“If you have an area of interest, we tailor their assignments to that interest,” Fuller continued. “If we test them and they are gifted, or talented, or excel in one particular area, then perhaps then they would take reading at a higher grade level, or math at a higher grade level. We have one child in sixth grade who has tested gifted and he does some work on a computer because he has excelled.”

The administrators say the school tests each student at the beginning and the end of the school year to identify how much advancement has taken place.

The school offers art, music, foreign languages, and by next year will have physical education, chess club, reading club, and garden club — to name a few.

“There is more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. We know those things are important. We just want to make sure that folks know we have other services and things to offer them,” Franklin said.

Fuller added, “It goes along with if you have interest or talent we want you to pursue that. We want good citizens out there. I think that really contributes. If you’re here and you get to pursue your interests in school and then go out and be an artist or musician in life, it’s very enriching for them.”

Franklin wants Hollingworth School to become involved in the community, including sports activities. For example, he sees a basketball team or intramurals at Hollingworth next school year.

“We’re just here to be part of the community. We’re here to help,” Franklin said. “We don’t have all the answers, but we’re working at finding them. I think we’re committed to the children that are finding us, not only from the immediate community but from around. We think that this will be a great place for families to be able to bring children to learn for years to come. Our hope is that we start to receive generational students — students that their brothers and sisters came here and maybe someday my mom came here and my dad came here.”

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