Imagine this, imagine that

Imagine this; a school where the majority of moms, grandmothers and great grandmothers of 1,200 children get together for a morning breakfast in the school, calling it Mom & Muffins.

Imagine the looks on the faces of the children as they parade their special guest throughout their school building from room to room showing off the place they call home for eight hours or more a day.

Imagine the proud smiles of the parents as the children provide them entertainment and they gather close together for family photos, all of this taking place within their school.

Imagine this same school hosting a Dads & Donuts day and over 500 dads, stepdads and grandpas attending in support of their children, fellowshipping with teachers and staff, and having discussions on parenting. Imagine an assortment of activities that foster a sense of one large family, a sense of community in the walls of this school.

Imagine Curriculum Days where 400 parents come to school in the evenings with their children and experience the same lessons as their child, giving the parents hands-on knowledge as to what this school is teaching their child, interacting with their child’s teacher in a learning experience, and in some cases gaining a little adult education in the process.

Imagine the parent and the child swabbing each other and utilizing the school’s lab to analyze their DNA, all of this during Curriculum Day.  

Imagine at this school the PTO (Parent Teachers Organization) raises $13,000 to assist with school and student experience expenses and raise an additional $3,300 to make a wish of a child suffering from leukemia come true by financing the child’s trip to Disneyland.

By the way, the student suffering from leukemia attends another school in another district; the objective was to provide a real life lesson on humanity and helping others.

Imagine at this school the professional development is so good that every teacher that wins Teacher of the Year is recruited away from this school to another district, but the district doesn’t mind; they just keep developing good teachers.

Imagine this school does constant assessments, providing educational nurturing and support, and the students tests scores climb every year.  

Imagine this school’s student population is 98 percent African-American and on free or reduced Lunch.

Imagine the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education telling them that they are no good and closing them down.

Imagine the state establishes a transition office for this school and the district they live in and tells them they have choices, but when they attend the school fair they have already been assigned to particular schools – and the assignments were by test scores.

Imagine the teachers from this school were told to attend a job fair only to get there and find that there were few if any opportunities for them to continue teaching.

You don’t have to use much imagination; everything I’ve shared with you is true and happening right before our eyes at the Imagine Academy of Environmental Science & Mathematics. 

I was invited to the Moms & Muffins Day by a grandmother whom is the primary caregiver for an Imagine student, and it turned out to be one of the greatest experiencing for me as NAACP president. Hearing the story, seeing the results and witnessing the anxiety provided a first-hand view of the possibilities and the hardships of educating children in public schools; and how a growing success story can be destroyed in the bureaucracy.

Imagine that!    

Pruitt is president of the St. Louis City Branch of the NAACP.