The Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac’s (ATAP) education philosophy is simple: meet the student where they are at and help them get to where they need to be. “Nobody is a perfect cookie cutter of what a student looks like,” Superintendent Septembra Williams explains, “Students come to us very broken, and the last thing on their mind is academics.” This school then, is about growth; people are growing to be better. “Here we hold them accountable but love them at the same time. I don’t care how you come here, but you won’t leave us the same,” Williams holds.
The turbulence of the past year really put the staff and students to the test. Superintendent Williams and her team have worked hard to create a sense of normalcy at ATAP. Owing to the decision to stay remote as one step in the right direction, “Parents are appreciative of our consistency… The desire to go back in person is there, but there is still a lack of trust from the parents as to the safety of going back.” However, outputting the same caliber of programming, especially in a school that specializes in arts and technology, has provided a real challenge. “Out of the box thinkers have to be even more out of the box,” said Superintendent Williams.
The faculty and staff have really stepped up and delivered. One teacher found that some of her students had trouble learning in their environments at home. This teacher asked her friend, who was a craftsman, to build eleven desks. Once completed, this teacher dropped each desk off at each of the homes of her students. The faculty of ATAP truly exemplifies the motto: see a need, fill a need.
