http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wypr/local-wypr-888720.mp3

That’s Kimberly Drew in a scene from The Prep School Negro, describing the social do’s and don’t’s she quickly had to learn when her dream came true – to attend an elite private high school.  Kimberly, now in her second year at Smith College, shares with us what happened when her dream became reality.

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When I was first introduced to the boarding school life style, I was thrilled.  I saw the rolling green fields and smiling faces on boarding school advertisements.  I knew immediately that it was my destiny to be a part of the “boarding school elite.”  After getting accepted to the Wight Foundation, a scholarship program that works as a support system for middle-schoolers interested in boarding school, I knew that I had the artillery to head off to high school.

My gilded dream very quickly became a reality in the fall of 2004 when I showed up for my first day at St. George’s School in Rhode Island.  I went to freshman orientation and jumped right into the social life on campus.  I was shocked when I realized that I was the only new female African-American student admitted that year.

After the bumpy ride of my first year at St. George’s I realized that it was time for a change.  I had to take time and reassess why I decided to attend a boarding school.  I had never wanted to go to St. George’s to be black or be a woman; I could do that at home.  It was not my job to be a representative for my race or feel that I had to act a certain way around my classmates.  I knew that I went to St. George’s to step out of my comfort zone, so that year I joined the field hockey team and began hanging out with some of my classmates.  I found out that by being comfortable within my own identity and not allowing it to limit me that I could accomplish a lot.

I am very thankful for all of the lessons that I have learned from my experience at St. George’s.  My words of wisdom for current and prospective PSNs – take time and assess yourself and ask why you are at your respective school – because at the end of the day it is your journey.  Don’t fear change or challenges, because I know that I would not be who I am if I had not taken a risk on myself.

- Kimberly R. Drew
Smith College ‘12

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I attended a private Montessori school for part of my elementary education and attended Germantown Friends School (GFS) for the tenth grade through twelfth grade, graduating in 1988.  I received a community scholarship, which covered my tuition and allowed me to attend GFS.  This was a tremendous help, since I was from a single-parent family.

Overall, my experiences at GFS were very positive, although I did experience some culture shock as an African-American student.  I was active in the Minority Students Alliance and served as a leader of the organization.  As a somewhat non-traditional prep school, GFS had a very liberal orientation and encouraged students to fully develop as individuals, as opposed to fitting into a mold. I think one of the greatest benefits of my GFS education was that it helped me to be a critical and independent thinker.   Both of these qualities served me well as a college student and continue be an integral part of who I am today.  The small classes and individual attention that I received at GFS were also invaluable.

During my senior year in high school, I traveled to Puerto Rico with my Spanish class.  That trip was my first opportunity to travel outside of the mainland United States and it solidified my interest in Latin American cultures.  As an undergraduate at Princeton University, I pursued a major in Latin American Literature and have been involved with Latin American Studies since that time.  I earned a master’s degree in Latin American Studies and a doctorate in Social Anthropology, both at the University of Texas at Austin.

I am currently a faculty member in African-American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  My research focuses on African-descendant populations in Latin America, with an emphasis on Afro-Brazilian women’s experiences and issues of race in Brazil.  Today, both my son and daughter attend an independent school.

My own prep school experiences are proving valuable as my family navigates the positive and negative aspects of my children’s experiences at an independent school.  As a prep school graduate, I am very aware of the importance of my children being connected to the African-American community, as well as to our history and culture, and not feeling as if they are the “only ones” in the various settings in which they find themselves.

- Kia Lilly Caldwell, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of African & Afro-American Studies
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Oman Frame is a loving husband, proud father, and dedicated educator for the past ten years.  He pursued a career in education because he firmly believes that through the passion and creativity he brings to the classroom, he can change the world one child at a time.

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Oman attended the Hoosac School before matriculating at Hampton University where he graduated with a degree in Sociology.  His first job was in the municipal court system in Atlanta where, as a bailiff, he witnessed first-hand the havoc that a lack of education and opportunity created.  After two years with the courts, during which time he began working with young people as a lacrosse coach, he realized that in order to effect the change he wanted to see in the world, he needed to go to the front line and get his hands dirty.  Thus, an educator was born.

Reflecting upon his own experience as one of only five African Americans at the Hoosac School, Oman chose to teach in independent schools primarily for the students of color who needed the insight and support he could bring.  He realized immediately that he found his calling and spent the next five years at Graland Country Day School where he taught 6th grade history and led a highly inspirational trip to the Southwest United States where students were able to directly experience the role Native Americans played in the development of the country.

Oman’s journey led him back to Atlanta where he spent two years at KIPP: South Fulton Academy, a public charter school in Southwest Atlanta, where he was able to devote his considerable talents to a historically underserved community.  While there, he was recognized by Channel 11 News as a “class act teacher.”  This award was especially significant as he was nominated by the parents of his students.  His 5th grade KIPPsters achieved a 92% passing rate on the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test – a nearly 20 percentage point jump – and an impressive 96% passing rate on the State Writing Test.

He currently teaches 7th and 8th grade at Paideia School where he has co-developed a rigorous curriculum on race, class, and gender in the junior high that is now taught in multiple classes on campus.  Oman also helped to design and coordinate the Race and Gender Day at Paideia which gives voice to the unique experiences of students of color at independent schools.

Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and Dyslexia after graduating from Hampton, Oman discovered a root cause for many of the struggles he faced as a student.  His ability to embrace his difference and assist students facing the same challenges earned him the distinction of having his story published in the book, “Delivered From Distraction.”  He has attended the People of Color Conference for nine years and presented at the annual Georgia Independent School Association Conference.  He is married with a two year-old daughter and can often be seen pedaling his bicycle through the streets of Atlanta with a huge smile lighting his face.

Download the full article (PDF): HoraceMannTheRecord_issue15_011510

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I attended Hawken School in Gates Mills, Ohio from 1974 until 1978. Not only was I one of very few African-American students there—it was also the year the school went co-ed after 59 years as a boys’ school. So the cultural shocks were nonstop. It was a difficult experience in many ways. Being an adolescent (and being the sort of introverted adolescent I was) I spent much of my time there wondering “what’s wrong with me?” and feeling wildly out of place rather than understanding the larger forces that were at work in creating my discomfort.

That said, I am glad that I went to Hawken—I wouldn’t be the person I am, the writer I am, without it. I got a wonderful, rich education and was forced to learn and grow (culturally as well as intellectually) in ways I never would have otherwise. And, I always joke now, I got a novel out of it. My novel The Fall of Rome, while not autobiographical, grew very directly out of my experience at Hawken and is now used in the English curriculum at a number of independent schools. I’ve even been back to Hawken to speak and read from the book. So while I can’t say I look back at high school with unalloyed fondness, it was a profoundly formative experience.  And hey, the presence of Prep School Negroes in the White House have reassured me that the fire of this experience—for all its trials–prepares you to do great things!

-Martha Southgate
www.marthasouthgate.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kaufman/kids-from-the-hood-wendy_b_398166.html

WKCR89.9FM-NY_AndreRLee_Interview_121509

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Our youngest daughter, Katherine, graduated from high school a year ago. Sitting at her graduation, I couldn’t help but reflect on the difference between her journey to that milestone and my own. I grew up in poverty on the South Side of Chicago. I went to overcrowded, sometimes violent public schools. I shared a room and a set of bunk beds with my mother and sister, so we would rotate from the top bunk to the bottom bunk to the floor, every third night on the floor.

I can’t think of a time when I didn’t enjoy reading, but I don’t remember actually ever owning a book as a child. I got my break in 1970 when I came to Massachusetts on a scholarship to boarding school. For me, that was like landing on a different planet. Our daughter Katherine, by contrast, has always had her own room. By the time she got to high school, she had already traveled on four continents, and had shaken hands in the White House with the president of the United States.

One generation and the circumstances of my life and family were profoundly transformed. And though that story is still not told as often as we’d like, it’s told more often in this country than any other place on earth. That is the American story.

(Remarks by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick as prepared for the 2008 Democratic National Convention)

photo:  Milton Bulletin July 1974 – permission of Milton Academy

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The title of my educational autobiography that focused on my time at Blair Academy came to me immediately, Slim Fast, Cowboy Boots, Pear Trees.  The title was easy.  Reflecting on my experiences as one of a few African American girls in a predominantly white boarding school in the Northeast was much harder to do.

Slim Fast is a metaphor for not fitting in.  I was never small enough or athletic enough to be the right kind of “Blair Girl.”  Likewise, I never fit into the class structure of the school and Cowboy Boots are meant to be a metaphor for wanting things that I just could not have.  Last, Pear Trees refers to my coming of age and love of self that I ultimately found after selecting to read Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  While reading this important text I learned how beautiful I was without apologizing for what I did not have.  Instead I learned, and I am still learning, to celebrate what I did possess.

Since graduating from Blair, I have worked with private schools because I know how important it is for students of color to be supported in these environments.  And quite frankly, many of these schools are simply not doing enough to listen to the voices of students of color.  In my professional life, I have focused on helping schools address their colorblind-ness and listen with an authentic ear to students of color.  It is not easy, but is important work.

- Dr. Tiffany Russell

Dr. Tiffany Russell holds a doctorate in Educational Policy Studies/Social Foundations of Education from Georgia State University. She also holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in African American Studies from Temple University.