Lawson for Congress

This morning I had the pleasure of visiting a retired Duke general surgeon, Dr. Joseph Moylan. Dr. Moylan was a highly respected attending when I was in residency at Duke, and I hadn’t seen him for years when we recognized each other at a local coffee shop last month. After reintroducing ourselves, Dr. Moylan shared his new “job” since retirement: founder and president of Durham Nativity School.

I’ve had a long fascination with education. My wife taught fourth grade in Durham while I was in medical training, and four of her five years were at E.K. Powe Elementary on Ninth Street. Powe had a diverse student population with lots of social challenges, and every year we agonized over the difficulty of reaching children whose home situations included hunger, homelessness, physical and substance abuse, absent parents, and a general apathy towards education and basic social skills.

The limitations in public education are such that my wife’s optimism as a first-time teacher gradually gave way to pragmatic realism, and at some point we realized that her eight hours per day the classroom (plus the typical assortment of before- and after-school care) was not enough to raise a child successfully in the absence of engaged and concerned parent(s). While some still believe we can “outsource” social problems to governmental institutions, the harsh reality is that government has never proven to be an effective parent.

The model at Durham Nativity School is different, and worth celebrating. From the moment Dr. Moylan walked me around the halls, things immediately stood out. All the boys were neatly attired in shirts and ties, with real knots. I wasn’t tying a tie in the sixth grade, so these young men were already ahead of me. He introduced me to two of the students, and each reached out his hand, looked me straight in the eye, gave me a firm handshake, and said, “Welcome to Durham Nativity School. My name is …”.

At that point, I was floored. My wife and I have noticed how rare it is for children and young adults to look us in the eye nowadays, and the message of insecurity and duplicity communicated by those who refuse to make eye contact is a sad commentary on self-image and self-confidence.

Then I watched them change classes. The bell rang, and instead of a mad scramble between classrooms and lockers, there was an orderly movement of young men culminating in each class lining up outside its respective door for the next class. The teacher then appeared at the door, also dressed in business attire, and each student received a handshake and a greeting while entering the classroom. Dr. Moylan then shared with me that the Headmaster greets each child at the main door upon arriving in the morning with — you guessed it — a handshake, welcome, and shared commitment to do one’s best during the course of the day.

We then sat down in Dr. Moylan’s office so I could ask some tough questions about how this place really worked. The office wasn’t much — no Herman Miller Aeron chairs, just furniture that reminded me of my startup days when we furnished our office with used dorm furniture from the Duke surplus store. Clearly, chairs and desks for the President are less important than the educational mission. That’s a good sign.

Dr. Moylan shared some lessons learned, and perspectives on the curriculum, that reflect seven years of iterative improvement on an established model. There are over 40 Nativity Schools in the country, and all of them focus on identifying and serving children who would otherwise fall through the cracks of the public educational system. Admission criteria include academic potential (even if the student is currently “underperforming”), as well as financial hardship. Graduating fifth-grade applicants are then taken through a orientation/screening program starting in February and lasting through the summer, when the new sixth-grade class is identified.

After seven years, their record is remarkable. They take incoming sixth graders functioning at a 4-5 grade level, and graduate eighth graders functioning at a 9.5-10.5 grade level. Their graduates earn scholarships at private high schools such as Cary Academy, Durham Academy, Ravenscroft, or even boarding schools like the Asheville School. While transitioning from an underprivileged background into competitive and often wealthy private schools has its own challenges, the challenges of upward mobility for both students and parents were deemed preferable to the social challenges of public high school.

While they initially experienced more attrition than other Nativity Schools, with classes of 15 dropping to 10 at graduation, they objectively studied their performance and identified the home situation as the root cause of most attrition. As a result, their program now includes a dedicated social worker who works not in the school, but in the homes with the parents. They’ve also discovered the value of engaging the parents directly in the school through volunteer activities and mentoring opportunities.

The final critical variable is their curriculum. It’s an extended day program, from 8am to 6pm with a heavy focus on language arts, mathematics, and faith-based, character building activities. Students spend one-half day per week performing community service, and learn that no matter how challenging their situation, there are those who are even less fortunate. Mentors and volunteers from the community also play a critical role, and on average 40 volunteers give one hour to the school every week.

Not only are the days long, but the curriculum is year-round, as well. Camp experiences and field trips during the summer take the students out of often hazardous neighborhoods during peak times of gang activity. A recent trip took them to Washington D.C., where they had the chance to meet Colin Powell:

So how much does all this goodness cost Durham and North Carolina taxpayers? Nothing. How about American taxpayers? Nothing. Durham Nativity School receives no federal or state funding. The students receive a $66,000 education over three years, and a chance at a radically different future, thanks to the devotion and generosity of highly-motivated staff and private donors. To whom much is given, much is expected, and the motto for Durham Nativity School says it all: “Educating tomorrow’s community leaders.”

Durham Nativity School accepts 15 students per year. Last year, they only had 38 applicants for these 15 positions. If you know of an at-risk young man who would benefit from this unique opportunity, he has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, from applying. The application process for next year has already started, so interested students, parents, and guardians should contact the school as soon as possible.

Finally, if you’re looking to make a charitable or time contribution that will be highly leveraged for maximum impact, I strongly recommend Durham Nativity School. Isn’t it great that the government does not have a complete monopoly on education?

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 10:03 pm and is filed under community, educational freedom, free market, local politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.