The immigration issues facing our country are huge, and government schools find themselves trying to meet all needs at all locations, which is impossible. The New York Times reports on a school in Atlanta that specifically addresses the needs of immigrant children, while also being a school of choice for other families.
“The community school was born a decade ago when Ms. Thompson, then a freelance writer, met William L. Moon, the principal at a prestigious private school in Atlanta, and Sister Patty Caraher, a Sinsinawa Dominican nun and social activist who once taught under segregation at an all-black high school in Mobile, Ala. Each had done volunteer work on behalf of refugee children, and each had concluded that such children?s needs were not being met through conventional schooling. The school leased space from a church and, in 2002, was granted charter status by the local school board and the state.
Parents from low-income families tend to choose the school over other nearby public schools because it is safe and has small classes. More affluent parents seek it for the potential benefits of exposure to so many cultures. Most of the middle- and upper-middle-class parents are social progressives from Decatur, a liberal enclave.”
The school works because it is a school of choice, no one is forced to attend, and the staff have a common vision, mission. Hey, even ?social progressives? need a school of choice!
