When most people think of boarding schools, they picture smart middle- to upper-class white kids in ties and blazers. After all, it is fairly expensive to send a child away for schooling, so the parents have to have money. Right? Not at Washington D.C.’s SEED (School for Educational Evolution and Development). This charter and boarding school seems to be the antithesis of most people’s idea. 98% of the students here are African-American and 2% are Hispanic. This school uses a lottery system to select students and many are two years behind academically. The students here have free tuition, boarding, meals, tutoring and career counseling. The staff is diverse and is allowed to chose their own curriculum. There is also a large number of teachers to ensure smaller class size.
These students have had a life altering experience; they probably would not have finished high school or given college a thought. Now, 100% of graduates are going on to college and most are first generation college-attendees. SEED graduates have been accepted to such places as Princeton, Duke, and Georgetown. They also score better and are better behaved than their Washington D.C. peers (Only 5% were in a physical fight last year compared to 35% of their public school counterparts).
Some critics feel Washington City Council’s money could be spent wiser, using less per student instead of significantly helping a few. But the creators of the SEED program are thrilled by the success of their students and wish to expand to more locations in D.C. and possibly California.
I think schools like this should be everywhere. They are intensive and have a measurable impact on the students as well as the community. Think of how much better the world would be if students had personalized attention and access to all the things they need to succeed! But if this happened, following the SEED model, state deficits would be much larger since the funding comes from the government. I know both sides of the charter school debate, but I think they have quite a bit of merit. And it isn’t fair for only certain students to have that privilege, but I am reminded of that story with the old man, the boy, and the starfish: “I made a difference to that one.”
“The Little Class that Could”
5 responses so far ↓
wdok // January 30, 2007 at 6:12 am
Remember when you were young and you couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for all those people who lived and died before your time because your time, this time, was when everything was finally going to work. I miss that feeling. So, it’s nice to know that there exists out there such a thing as the School for Educational Evolution and Development—even if it is responsible for creating another acronym; there are so, so many. Here’s hoping, though, that SEED does get to California without having to ford too many rivers or resort to shooting squirrels to bring back to the wagon because it went a little crazy shooting the buffalo, or the occasional bear (I really liked Oregon Trail). Hopefully, someone will also somehow find a way to pay for it. With the five-day workweek coming back to congress, I remain cautiously optimistic. From your article, that seems to be what SEED is helping to do for a lot of people, bringing a little bit of optimism to the table. But then, the issue of money always seems to ruin everything. Doesn’t it just boggle your mind? “Sure, we would love to give our citizens a magnificent education fit for future leaders, but we just can’t find the money. By the way, let me tell you about our brand new warhead. It’s incredibly expensive—that’s what makes it cool.” I know it’s not that simple, but sometimes…
bisardm // February 1, 2007 at 2:40 am
After reading your little summary or interlude to this article I am so very interested. I think that you might be interested looking into some of the same things that I am. I am going to be researching or looking into what things are being done to help these type of minority or underprivallged students like these. I wan to look into and read about programs that are being put together to help these students break through the mold that they are given and so succeed in school and get a better life than there ancestors had. I want to find that there are people/teachers out there that care more about their students and want to really see them do well in life. Sometimes I think that this is not the case. I disagree that it might be wrong to spend a lot of money on a few students getting a better life rather than a bunch of students getting a little bit of help. I think that if you start to help this small amount of students that more oportunities like this will come about and eventually more students will be helped and there will be better lives for people in our future.
matt4386 // February 1, 2007 at 6:18 am
I found your response and article very interesting and touching. Hopefully you will continue looking into this school and it’s success and keep us posted. If only there were more schools like this one that gave those who had nothing to begin with a chance for success. I feel like so many people have the potential for a great life, especially when combined with their knowledge from experiences from the past, and it is amazing to hear that so many lives have been changed already by attending this school. Within our present society, so many people are labeled as immediate failures if they do not have enough money or are not as well educated as their peers and they are given no opportunities. As you have shown though, this may not be the case anymore. Success can be achieved by anyone.
Although you may not know off-hand, I was just wondering what kind of lessons the students learned that were different from those of public schools? I feel that if a private school like this can achieve such amazing results, there must be some hope for public schools. I wonder if it has to do with the separation of minorities from the usual majority of white students, or maybe just the concentration of the student’s learning from teachers? That may be an interesting thing to look into in order for other schools to become that successful.
That's What Matt Said. . . « What has two thumbs and is ready to blog? This guy! // April 11, 2007 at 4:49 am
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