A year ago, we were in the midst of trying to start a small city grammar campus – starting with just one class – of the local classical school that is sponsored by a large suburban PCA church. In a lot of ways, this was our ideal. School in the city, with an urban culture, but under the oversight of an established school and its board, with most of the factors such as curricula already decided for us. Michael taught at the upper school before law school, and we saw firsthand its many benefits and excellent results. However, the idea of sending our children 15 miles into the depths of the suburbs for 13 years of education (and driving our fair share of carpools there and back) was not that attractive. So the idea of a grammar school in the city (and then maybe a bus!) sat well with us, and we were very hopeful that we had a good chance of pulling it off.
Due to a number of different disappointing factors, things never coalesced, and we never reached the momentum we’d need to open with even ONE class. In mourning the loss of a great idea unrealized, I had a really hard time getting excited about the good and fine grammar school in the suburbs. Trying to think about how I would make it work even with carpooling, since Lexi’s preschool is 5 miles in the other direction (and it takes 40+ minutes to drive between the two), gave me a headache. And I feared the headache would continue every school day for the next two years as I drove non-stop, tiring myself out.
And then, another option came out of nowhere. An established Christian school in the city, almost 20 years old, SACS accredited and doing neat things academically, located just a mile or two from Lexi’s preschool. There’s a simple reason this option never occurred to us before: this school has traditionally had a uniformly black student body. The board, faculty and staff are diverse, and the school was founded by the white father of a fellow church member (we actually know a good number of people who have been involved there.) As an excellent school, it has long attracted a socially and economically diverse student body, but as they went through accreditation and looked forward to the future (including starting an International Baccalaureate primary program this fall and a very exciting move downtown the following fall) the leadership felt that the school needed more racial diversity to best educate students.
Another family at church is jumping into this endeavor with us, so between the two of us, we have K4, K5 and 1st grade students (with Lexi on deck for next year’s K4.) I’ve appreciated the welcome I’ve felt from parents I have met at kindergarten testing and around the school. It’s not a huge shift in demographics, but it may be the start of something big. Even if it isn’t, we can think of many advantages in giving this a good college try. Relatively few middle class white kids experience being a minority, and our children get to do that in a loving, Christian environment where they will share a great deal of common values with their fellow pupils. They will see the church more broadly than the PCA, and I hope that it will shape them to be gracious and welcoming to other believers. We avoid sending our children to spend most of their waking moments outside the city, and get to connect with others in the city we never would have met.
This isn’t a contract in blood, and even if the school adds a high school (it has always been K4-8th grade) I am not sure that we will stay forever. Our desires for our children at different points may be better fulfilled other places, even if it means a drive. But right now (and for the foreseeable future if things go well) I wholeheartedly believe that this is the place that best fits the values we want to instill in our kids: solid basic academics, Christian nurture and loving our city as neighbors. It also complements the culture of our home and church by filling in some of our gaps.
If this is the sort of thing that makes you excited, pray with us, for Kate, Brady and Riley, and for their parents, as we learn to navigate the inevitable cultural differences and find grace along the way. Five weeks until the first day of school.
Kristen, I so enjoyed getting to know you better at last week’s skirt book club, and knew of Charlotte’s decision to send B & R to Cornerstone, but glad to hear of your commitment too. As I have a couple more years before my son would even be eligible, I will look forward to hearing about your experiences in the future.
Even though skirt! book club is on hold, would love to have coffee or lunch sometime. Email me or catch me on twitter! ERIN
How exciting! Although, as a suburbanite, what’ve you got against us? You city slickers are all the same…ha ha ha. As long as you don’t let them go to Duke, I’m behind you 100%.
City Slickers can be pretty passionate about the city, I’ll give you that. :) To me, it’s about plugging in and really neighboring where you are, and if most of your life is in the city, it makes sense to live there and make choices to involve your family there, too.
I posted this on facebook, and wanted to mention it here as well:
I didn’t mention this in my post, but there is something especially redemptive about integrating white students into a black school in Birmingham, and the school moving to the oldest school building in the city, which was originally chartered to always be in use as a school to educate white children.
That is very cool, Kristen! I hope that Kate has a wonderful school year. I admit to a twinge of sadness that we won’t be going through the rituals of Charlotte going off to kindergarten since we are homeschooling, so I sort of feel a bit sniffly reading about Kate starting K4. But we’re going to make it special for Charlotte when we “officially” start this fall. :)
She’ll actually be in K5 (traditional kindergarten.) :) I have been loving all the ritual such as dressing her up in her uniform, and our plan for all of us to take her in the first day (expect lots of pics!) but I know you will find your own special rhythms for homeschooling.
Hello Kristen! I am a friend of Patrick Sewell’s, and the new Spanish teacher at Cornerstone! I love your family’s vision and commitment to Birmingham, and I do pray that this is the beginning of something great for Cornerstone and for your family. We had our first hispanic family come by today to show interest in the school too. Bring on the diversity! I can’t wait to meet you and your children!
Kristen, this sounds really cool. I’ll definitely be praying for you and those transitioning into the school. If we were in your place, it would be something we would want to try. And I love the idea with all of Birmingham’s storied history of racial issues. Redemption at work.
And hey, you met Erin! (She’s my second-cousin-once-removed-or-something! She’s awesome!) Small world.
Thanks for being excited with us, Elaine and Allison, and for praying with us. Elaine, I am super excited to help with development in any way.
We are also sending our girls to be the racial minority in order to place them in a quality school in the city. I really believe that if more city families are willing to be the minority (without sacrificing quality education which unfortunately is the only option in many cities) in one or two generations many of the race-based educational problems that burden American cities will be dissipating.
Happy Kindergarten, Kate!