ESSAY: I. Choose a problem facing your school or community and describe what you would do to improve the situation.
One problem facing my entire city is racial divisions in the community and in the community’s schools. The City of New Rochelle, New York is divided into two sections. One is diverse and has highly ranked schools; the other section is not racially diverse and has very low-ranked schools. In New Rochelle, schools are zoned based on the part of the city in which people reside so families and students do not choose their own school. It is unfair that where you live determines your opportunities. I believe that everyone should get the same opportunity for a good education.
When I moved to New Rochelle, the school I would attend was not a worry to my family. New Rochelle schools have high ratings as a whole, but an outsidee will not be aware of the faulty system unless you attend one of the schools. My family and I were not aware of this broken system before we actually moved, but we were as soon as I attended a school in the community.
When I actually went to school, I discovered that many of the students were still learning English. The more advanced students were relearning things we already knew in order to get all students on the same page. Along with a few other students, I had to take separate classes, due to being ahead of the others. This is the way most schools on the “South End” of New Rochelle function. Schools on the “South End” of New Rochelle are also not at all diverse or recognized by the community. They contain people mainly of Hispanic decent, and unfortunately get little attention from the School Board and Superintendent. The middle school on the “South End”, Isaac Young Middle School, has a high crime rate and extremely low test scores.
However, on the “North End” of New Rochelle, schools are the complete opposite. They are extremely diverse, have high test scores, and are acknowledged by New Rochelle’s board. The middle school on the “North End” , Albert Leonard, is highly ranked and is looked at as the “better” middle school of New Rochelle. The “North End” is generally composed of houses and luxury apartments, whereas the “South End” generally has low-income housing or inexpensive housing.
Due to this, wealthier people will go to better schools. As a person who goes to Albert Leonard but lives on the “‘South End” of New Rochelle, I have seen both sides. People at my middle school tend to look down upon those who attend schools on the “South End”. Not only this, but if you want the opportunity to attend a school on the “North End” but are not zoned for that particular school, the only way to get that chance is to win a lottery which very few do.
To fix this issue, I would create one large middle school and one large elementary school. Everyone in New Rochelle would attend the same middle or elementary school, which is not a large change considering there is already one public high school for the entire district. All of the teachers would work in unison, so that different teachers were not teaching differently and all students would learn the same things. Students would be much more disciplined, so that fighting and crime stayed at a minimum. I would do this by installing security cameras and monitoring students especially during free time like recess and lunch, when a lot of violence between students occurs. Most importantly, there would be a principal and assistant principal who genuinely cared about the welfare of the students while also enforcing the rules. I would add programs to the schools like parent- and child-based programs or even mentoring programs. A parent and child based program could improve family relations and possibly lower violence by children, in the way of providing parents with information on child development, communication skills, and discipline in ways that are non-violent. A mentoring program could include a role-model student mentoring another student who is struggling in their academics. Having students who are there to encourage their peers could make children focus on their responsibility as a student. People who still need to learn basic curriculum would take separate classes, and students would take a placement test for all subjects to determine their classes. If New Rochelle were like this, everyone would be exposed to so many new people, and being involved in a positive, well-developed and safe school environment would hopefully make students more interested in school
This is an issue not only in New Rochelle, but also all over The United States and even the world. The reason why there are poorly performing schools is because if you put a child in an inferior school then they most likely will do poorly. It simply becomes a cycle, where these people in these schools don’t get a proper education and then have children who later go to the same failing schools. Education opportunities for everyone will never improve if the schools arc not reformed. I believe that it’s not the child’s fault, it’s the school’s fault A child cannot improve if you don’t give them the chance to by providing them with an environment which is safe and encouraging with teachers willing to help them. To make public schools even in performance, most states administer standardized testing. But testing generally takes away time from learning. I believe the solution is not testing, but reform.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The essay was a component of an application to a scholarship program which places minority students of families whose income is $75,000 or less into into highly selective, private, college-preparatory, coeducational, boarding schools. The Ten Schools Admissions Organization is comprised of Choate, Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, St. Paul’s, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Taft, Loomis Chaffee, and The Hill School. The author was accepted into the program and is now attending boarding school in another state.