A New Jewel Of a School In Ward 8

Here is a rather glowing article about a very successful charter school in DC, courtesy of the Washington Post.

One of the things I find very attractive about this idea is the school was started by group of lawyers (see, even lawyers have a heart) and focuses on preparing children to be a part of democratic society while at the same time preparing them for college.

The facility serves 300 students in grades 9 through 12 as the new home of the Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School. Founded in 2001 in a rented church building on Alabama Avenue SE, the academy quickly established itself as one of the best public high schools in the city, according to a 2005 Washington Post Magazine survey. This year every member of its first graduating class was accepted to a college.(emphasis added)

While that looks good, the numbers may seem a little daunting:

Students accepted into the academically rigorous school are not assured of quick success: Only 18 of the 80 ninth-graders who entered Thurgood Marshall in 2001 graduated this spring. Most of the others were held back at least one grade. Others dropped out.

Yet, not all is bad:

Unlike traditional public schools, the Thurgood Marshall Academy requires students to attend from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and often to come in on Saturdays, Kern said. There is a mandatory summer program, and students who can't do the work are not passed on to the next grade in the name of social promotion.

There is must to take heart in the Thurgood Marshall Academy. If a graduating class, comprised of some of the most socially impoverished areas of the city, can achieve 100% acceptance in to college, there is much to applaud.

To the leaders of Thurgood Marshall Academy, good luck and great job.