A Bold Shift to Make Public Schools Serve Poor Students
Last year, New York City began turning schools in poor neighborhoods into community schools—combining rigorous instruction and extracurricular enrichment with a broad social support system.
A dance class at Renaissance School of the Arts (Jhanel McWhite in front). All photos by Abigail Savitch-Lew.
It’s 11:45 a.m. in East Harlem, and Samir Zaimi starts his lesson on life in Colonial America. A social-studies teacher at a public middle school called Renaissance School of the Arts, Zaimi urges the seventh-graders to imagine themselves as colonial settlers, and to complete the writing prompt on the board: “How can I convince people to come to my colony?” Then he notices a student who has been absent for weeks and crosses the room to welcome her.
“Been out a while.”
“Yeah, 27 days,” she says.
“We’ll catch you up.”
For the rest of the period, Zaimi barely takes a breath as he darts around the room, addressing questions. There’s Nunova Williams, who is usually first to raise her hand and wonders what good can be said about 18th-century New Hampshire, which had slaves and high income-inequality. But there are also students who come to class late after meeting with social workers, and others struggling to take an interest in school. Last year, only 13 percent of Renaissance’s students demonstrated proficiency in language arts and only 7 percent did so in math.
Last year, the city began providing extra funds and support to these institutions to transform them into “community schools.”
The conservative New York Post blames the problem at schools like Renaissance on “ineffective teachers and staff.” But the city’s Department of Education, while recognizing that some teachers should skill up, points to students’ difficult circumstances and social problems such as poverty as the root source.
The department isn’t just pointing fingers. It’s actively working to address those problems at Renaissance and 127 other struggling schools. Last year, the city began providing extra funds and support to these institutions to A Bold Shift to Make Public Schools Serve Poor Students by Abigail Savitch-Lew — YES! Magazine: