Now, this is interesting - A school in Virginia aims to "build character:"
An Achievable Dream, located in the inner city, is a partnership among the Newport News public school system, the city and the local business community. It began in 1992 as a summer education and tennis program for about 100 fourth-graders, becoming a full-time school in 1994.
Nearly 1,000 children are enrolled in the program, which consists of a preparatory school for kindergarten through second grade, An Achievable Dream Academy for third through eighth grade and a high school component.
Ninety-six percent of the students are black. Most live in the city's poorest neighborhoods and many come from single-parent households. All qualify to receive free or reduced-cost lunches when they enter the program. The fathers of two students recently were murdered, school officials said.
Character education is the cornerstone of the program, which emphasizes integrity, honesty, courage, patriotism and respect for one's self and others. Banners with motivational phrases and school rules hang throughout the building.
"It's a safe place where you're going to be nurtured," said John Hodge, academy director.
But, he added, discipline and structure are key.
"We don't want to love children into failure," he said.
Amen. So far, the results seem promising:
Eighty percent of the students passed the 2003 Virginia Standards of Learning tests, compared with 85 percent statewide for white students and 60 percent statewide for black students, according to the school.
Results on 2004 scores available so far showed 100 percent of the students passed algebra I and geometry, 93 percent passed eighth-grade writing and 86 percent passed the fifth-grade writing test.
About 90 percent of the program's high school graduates have gone to college, with the rest joining the military.
Wonderful. I have to wonder about that tennis requirement, though, although I suppose it's just my weak ankles that have made me fearful of the court.
Posted by kswygert at July 23, 2004 02:22 PM