What a morning! Just ten months ago, we opened the doors at Domus Academy New Haven, a school we were asked to run by the New Haven Public Schools. Students were poor--desperately poor--were performing far below their potential, and had complex barriers keeping them from being successful students.
Fast forward to today, 10:35am: A sudden and intense downpour could not dampen the spirits of families and graduates who celebrated unprecedented learning progress (one student went from performing at a 1st grade level in math to an 11th grade level in 10 months) and significant social and emotional progress ("[My son] is more in control of his emotions--he's able to control his anger.")
Ashley, Domus Academy's director of social services, told the story of a young man who asked to speak with her, identifying a feeling he had of wanting to change his behavior and put himself in the position of being successful. This young man had, over the course of a few months, started to see he had a future if he wanted it. And he decided he did.
I think that's what I saw the most of today: hope. Hope in the eyes of the dad who told me with pride about his son's "100% academic change--and now no fights--he can control his anger" and that son telling me he knows he'll "do better in high school because of Domus Academy--my behavior, my attitude, my words" are different now.
Some would say we're in the business of running a school or educating children, but I think it's more accurate to say we're in the business of helping people rediscover hope for the future.
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More pictures (and more on the way) are here in our Domus online photo galleries.
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