March 2000
Perspectives on Parenting©
by Nancy Lambert Davenport
Nancy Davenport's Column:
For Richardson News 03-26-00
Copyright Nancy Lambert Davenport 2000
"Heritage Academy worth examining"
There was a muddle in the parking lot of one of my favorite shopping centers in
Lake Highlands as a flock of teenagers strolled to their cars or across to a
bus stop. A women cheerfully directed traffic, telling the young people to move
quickly, quiet down, drive safely, and have a good afternoon all in one breath.
This was the end of the day at Heritage Academy, a Charter School in our midst.
I was curious about the school, so I made an appointment to have a look. No one
seemed surprised when I came in. Instead they welcomed the opportunity for me
to see what they were doing. When I walked in the front door I could tell
immediately this was not an ordinary secondary school. For one thing the front
door was locked. If I had been a student, and late to class, I would not have
been able to attend school that day. I had to be let in.
After gathering for announcements in an area that looked like a large living
room, the students said the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag and headed to
their classrooms. They sat down two to three to a table, opened their books and
set to work. There was no lecture at the front of the room, no class activity
together, just quiet individual work. The teacher told me that any subject a
student required to graduate from high school could be worked on in that
classroom. Someone studying Geometry was sitting next to a person working on
senior English. The teacher and her assistant were there to guide and help as
they could. The type of learning that was going on reminded me a little of a
supervised correspondence course.
There are other differences from a traditional high school. Students at
Heritage Academy may take no more than two courses at the same time. When they
finish a course they may start another. They may work as fast as they wish.
There are packets of assignments and a book for each subject. Many students
finish an entire semester of a subject in as few as three weeks if they work
steadily and do their work well. There is no homework. Each day they are
required to write in a journal and each week they must complete a vocabulary
study. In addition, every student must be employed or do volunteer work
regularly. For every 200 documented hours of work, a student gets one elective
credit.
According to the headmistress, many of the students are there because they had
trouble with follow-through or completion of tasks in their original schools.
The structure at this school seems to circumvent that problem. I think the
students who choose to go to Heritage are doing better than they had been
because there is no one saying "time's up" and no one sitting next to
them clearly "doing it better" because no two people are doing the
same thing.
A counselor at one of our RISD high schools said about Heritage that if the
kids had done even half the work they do here while they were in traditional
high school, there would never have been a problem. That is to say, the
students do work hard. This is a strictly business, no frills school. The
students are there for one reason alone and that is to take classes toward
graduation. Many of them when they finish at Heritage will choose to graduate
with their original schools. Others will choose to participate in the Heritage
Academy graduation ceremony at the end of the year.
Amanda, a student there, said she " has really built self-confidence and
has been successful because it is self-paced and low pressure." She had
not done well at her previous school because she cut too many classes.
Justin, another student, wanted "to start over with a clean slate."
Apparently he has succeeded and will be graduating in May attending a culinary
institute in the fall.
Allie is not a morning person and was failing at her previous school because
she couldn't get there on time. At Heritage, she attends the afternoon session,
and then works at a 7-11 store until midnight.
Kendrick said he was in trouble before coming there but feels he is on the
right road now. His life turned around when he realized that education was the
key to "making it."
It seems that 70% of the students at this Charter School live in the RISD, so
these are "our" students not "their" students. These
students couldn't make it in traditional schools for one reason or another.
Most had dropped out. Others had begun failing and couldn't get the pattern
stopped. As Justin said, they wanted to start with a clean slate.
Heritage Academy is an experimental school that appears to be meeting the needs
of a certain population of our students. It is not perfect, but I think it is
worthy of our support. We who live in Lake Highlands have been sustaining many
programs for at-risk students. The Women's League, the Exchange Club, and many
other organizations have been relentless in bolstering such causes. We have
always wanted to give any student who is willing to learn, a chance to succeed.
Go by and check out the school if you have doubts. I feel sure they will
receive volunteer tutors with open arms. Don't make a judgment by looking at
the kids who are going to their cars in the parking lot or waiting for their
rides. They don't look any different than those who loiter across the street
from Lake Highlands High School. As with anyone or any school, we need to get
to know what is inside. Heritage Academy is a second chance school. Let's give
them a chance.
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