30718: Hermantin(News) edison finally makes passing grade (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Posted on Sat, Jun. 30, 2007
Edison finally makes passing grade
BY PETER BAILEY
Poverty, racism, language -- all have been dubbed barriers at Edison Senior 
High, cast as the causes of failure. Now add the word success to the 
Creole-accented dialogue emanating from the school's classrooms.
Edison passed.

''It's just a testament to our hard work,'' said Principal David Moore. ``A lot 
of our problems revolved around that stinking F.''
For the past five years, the grade defined the school in the heart of Little 
Haiti -- the F school -- a debilitating label in an already embattled 
community.
The state handed Edison a D on Friday, and Moore said the school was eight 
points shy of a C.
Edison was among four of five schools that had F's last year to improve their 
grade. Jackson Senior High and Lenora B. Smith and Nathan B. Young elementaries 
also made it off the list. Only Central Senior High remained.

''They were dead wrong to try and tell me what to do to get Edison, Jackson and 
Central off that list,'' said schools Superintendent Rudy Crew, referring to 
state education officials' threat of a takeover.
He credited good teaching -- ''as long as we have that, the scores will take 
care of themselves,'' he said.
But despite success on the FCAT, Edison could face an overhaul for failing to 
meet federal standards under the No Child Left Behind Act for a sixth 
consecutive year. School district officials say they plan to negotiate with the 
state to minimize penalties.
''We should be evaluated on what we're doing right now,'' Moore said. ``Right 
now, we're improving.''
Educators implemented a number of new initiatives at Edison.

The school's curriculum converted to career themes. A program called New 
Beginnings focuses on helping newly arrived Haitian students in the English for 
Speakers Of Other Languages program by offering intensive reading and language 
classes and counseling services.
''We focused on getting the students in smaller reading groups,'' said English 
teacher Tisha Tynes. ``Overcoming the ESOL factor was a major obstacle.''

HURDLES FACED
Edison, with 90 percent of its students either Haitian or the children of 
immigrants, faces social and cultural hurdles, which advocates say hamper 
student success.
Getting past the stigma as the poster child for underachievement proved 
difficult. ''We wanted the kids to believe they could change their reality,'' 
Moore said. ``It was our greatest challenge.''
Moore got the good news on his cellphone at 6:30 p.m. Thursday while driving. 
His hands shaking, he pulled his silver Chevy Impala to the curb then took a 
breath and soaked in the moment.
On Friday morning, Moore walked past the paintings of Rosa Parks and Frederick 
Douglas, up the stairwell toward the auditorium.
Inside, Qwewanna Vallieres and about 200 other students sat, eyes glued on 
Moore.
''You did it!'' he exclaimed.
''Everywhere you go, you're the F kids,'' said Vallieres, an 11th-grader. ``Not 
anymore. . . . Lord thank you!''

NEW ARRIVALS
In the 1970s, Edison, at 6161 NW Fifth Ct., became a conduit to the mainstream 
as newly arrived Haitians learned English there. ''Edison is woven into the 
fabric of Little Haiti,'' said community activist Gepsie Metellus. ``Now we can 
all hold our heads high.''
Security guard Roger Jean said the praise was overdue. ''Look at what our kids 
already [have] overcome. . . . Why not focus on that?'' he said. In a 
neighborhood where some kids juggle two jobs to send money to relatives in 
Haiti, Jean called the achievement ``one of many.''
Tara Gedeus, 17, missed Moore's speech while she was waiting inside the main 
office on her way to a doctor's appointment, but she overheard the commotion. 
Seven months pregnant, she gazed down at her swelled stomach.
''We did it,'' she said, rubbing her belly. ``You hear that, Baby? . . . We did 
it.''
Miami Herald staff writers Noah Bierman and Tania deLuzuriaga contributed to 
this report.


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Reserved.http://www.miamiherald.com
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