|
 As its first graduating class prepares to enter high school, The NativitySchool of Worcester is changing individual lives and building a transformative community.
By Laura Porter
"What do you think makes a good leader today?" social studies teacher Brian McClatchy asks his sixth-grade students, who have been discussing Marcus Aurelius, the last of the five great emperors of Ancient Rome. There isn't a moment's hesitation before the boys begin to fire back answers.
"Honesty," says one young man.
"Bravery," answers another.
"Fairness."
"Responsibility."
"Patriotism."
"Confidence."
In the two and a half years since The Nativity School of Worcester opened on Irving Street, these are only some of the qualities that their teachers have worked to encourage in the middle school boys who come to this independent Jesuit school every day. It is, by any definition, a long day. The boys, all from low-income families who live in Worcester's at-risk neighborhoods, arrive at school for a free breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and remain until 6:30 p.m., on most days of the week. During those 11 hours, they are challenged, as the school's Web site attests, "to discover and develop the fullness of their individual gifts."
Nativity Worcester, sponsored by the College—as well as by the New England Province of the Society of Jesus—is one of 41 Nativity schools across the country; while all operate independently, they follow a faith-based model created in 1971 in New York City. In Worcester, the Nativity School depends entirely on gifts and donations to raise its annual budget, which supports a core curriculum in math, language arts, Spanish, social studies, religion and science; the children also take Renaissance courses in art, music, technology and drama as well as participate in sports and a range of other activities. Teacher-led study hours and one-on-one tutoring provide each of the 48 students currently enrolled in the fifth through the eighth grades with a full range of academic and personal support.
Such an overview, however, cannot begin to capture the spirit of commitment that defines this small community of learners. On an ordinary weekday, the second-floor hallway is relatively quiet, but the buzz of voices in the classrooms is constant and the sense of energy palpable. Through an open door, math teacher Alice Mudiri can be seen at the blackboard, asking the class for possible solutions to a problem; boys' voices clamor to answer. Bulletin boards celebrate the Nativity Man of the Week, the Artist of the Week and the Sportsman of the Week. The winning records of the two basketball teams in St. Mary's Shrewsbury League are proudly displayed. In the teachers' room, Vantrice Taylor '04 and principal J. Michael Steele look through notecards written by some of the fifth graders. Executive Director Joanne McClatchy '79 is everywhere—chatting with staff members, checking in with individual boys and handling an admissions' issue on the telephone in her office, which is located at the uppermost corner of the building.
The 12 teachers on staff work together seamlessly, addressing not only curricular and administrative responsibilities but also virtually any task that needs doing.
"I do everything from serving lunch to sweeping the floor," says Steele, who became Nativity's second principal last July after years of teaching in Jesuit schools in Detroit. "I tell the boys I wouldn't ask them to do something I wouldn't do myself." He teaches language arts to the seventh graders and coaches basketball, leading his Nativity team to the league championship this season.
Master teacher Kathleen Gorski, who is in charge of the curriculum, teaches seventh- and eighth-grade science; the network administrator as well as the librarian, she is in the process of preparing for the accreditation process, which will begin following the completion of the school's fifth year.
Mrs. McClatchy serves as an art teacher. Her husband, Brian, in addition to teaching social studies, works on both graduate placement and development. The seven Nativity fellows, recent Holy Cross graduates who spend from one-to-two years at the school, teach classes, coach sports, run clubs and mentor the boys. Steele calls the staff, "more dedicated than anyone I've worked with in 10 years."
All are bound by their love for the boys and a deep faith in the wisdom of the Nativity School's mission: to encourage each student "to learn, to serve and to grow to the best of his ability through the school's four pillars: vires (strength), studium (scholarship/study), mores (character), and christianitas (service)."
"The whole purpose," says Holy Cross president, Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., who also serves as chair of Nativity Worcester's board of trustees, "is to put the boys in a different culture, one that breeds success. They come from wonderful families, who want the best for them. But they're all struggling with the impact of the environment and poverty. We want to expand their horizons."
Nativity prepares its students to continue their education, not only by attending excellent secondary schools but also, eventually, by going to college as well.
Chick Weiss, director of the office of grants and corporate and foundation giving at Holy Cross and associate professor of psychology, recalls years of talking with like-minded colleagues about starting a school intended to address "the struggles of kids from disadvantaged environments and the difficulties of breaking out."
When Fr. McFarland arrived on the Hill in 2000, a number of factors dovetailed to turn talk into action. The new president brought with him an interest in college and community relations and indirect experience in starting the Nativity Preparatory School of Boston. At the same time, an anonymous Massachusetts foundation, interested in investing in Worcester, suggested conducting a study to ascertain the feasibility of opening a school. The Cassin Educational Initiative Foundation (CEIF), run by Brendan J. Cassin '55, agreed to sponsor the study, which—conducted by Weiss and two Holy Cross students—identified Worcester's Main South area as the best location for such a venture. With initial financial support from both foundations, the decision was made to borrow the Nativity School model; Joanne and Brian McClatchy, then working in Providence, were hired as executive director and director of development. "It was a nice bit of serendipity," Weiss says.
It is hardly coincidental that the Nativity boys wear purple and white in the classroom as well as on the basketball court and baseball field. From the outset, the school has captured the hearts of students, administrators, trustees, faculty and staff in every department on the Holy Cross campus. The first campus-wide involvement occurred just before the school opened in August of 2003. The original plan to take over the Boys and Girls Club on Ionic Avenue fell through, leaving the school still without a building that July. When the minister at All Saints Church suggested leasing its adjacent building, recently vacated by Head Start, Joanne McClatchy recalls the full-scale campaign by volunteers from Holy Cross to get the space in shape for the entering students.
"Holy Cross carpenters and electricians built the library," she says. "Abdi Lidonde from the College's physical plant stepped in to strip the floors for free. We had College plumbers and painters here."
What she describes as a "great symbiotic relationship" has only continued. Controller Robert Grenon handles the school's accounting needs. College departments regularly donate equipment no longer in use. Tradespeople help out after work and on weekends. Henry Roy in the graphic arts department does all of the school's printing at the reduced College rate and makes 18,000 index cards every year by cutting up the scrap paper in his office. Associate professor of chemistry, Jane Van Doren, brings her students to build solar cars with the Nativity boys as an after-school activity.
Every year, members of the College's Development office hold a campus-wide coat drive with the Chaplains' office. A recent e-mail query to the College community asking for reading tutors elicited at least five responses a day from faculty members and students. Holy Cross alumni and parents have been generous in their support; a number of College scholarships have been earmarked for Nativity graduates.
Nowhere is the connection between the two institutions more evident than in the Nativity Fellows program.
"They are the heart and soul of the school," says Brian McClatchy. All of the current fellows are 2004 graduates of Holy Cross. Vantrice Taylor teaches science and religion and serves as the volunteer coordinator. Andrew Gallagher teaches social studies as well as physical education; he also coaches basketball and holds the post of associate director of development. Sean Dillon teaches language arts and works with the boys in the areas of music and drama; in addition, he takes them hiking and coaches cross country. Teneka Hardy, who teaches sixth- and eighth-grade religion, is in charge of graduate support for the eighth graders. Rashaunda Tyson teaches fifth- and sixth-grade language arts as well as drama. She is also in charge of the parents' group and serves as the conduit to the Mustard Seed, which provides the boys with hot lunches on Wednesdays. Cristina Gintoli teaches Spanish, coaches baseball and coordinates field trips. Eric Studt teaches religion, Spanish and music and directs retreats.
Fellows live together in the faculty house, Casa Maria, and receive a stipend as well as food, transportation and medical insurance. Taylor calls "living in the community the second-best part of the job," next to working with the boys. United as both friends and colleagues, the group is bound by the importance of the work they do. "A lot of the kids already have it in their heads that they're not as good as others," says Taylor. "We're trying to combat that and build self-esteem."
Pillars of Success, continued >>>
Read more:
The Teams of Summer
The Teams of Summer, continued
Science magazine attests to vibrancy of research teams
Salk Institute Internships
Pillars of Success
Pillars of Success, continued
|
