At a Nativity school, ‘peers are brothers and teachers are guides’
Making character count
A network of Catholic secondary schools helping boys from impoverished neighbourhoods across the US puts special emphasis on leadership and initiative in its teaching, reports Terry Philpot
I
n a school in inner-city Worcester, Massachusetts, 12-year-old boys are learning about Marcus Aurelius. Their
teacher asks them to think about what makes a good leader. “Honesty”, “bravery”, “fairness”, “responsibility”, “patriotism” and “confidence”, come the replies. This is a Nativity school and the pupils are getting more than a lesson in Roman history. As one of them, Marc Betancourt, explains: “In this school you get a lot of help to build your character.” Nativity schools were founded
in New York 39 years ago by the Jesuits for boys of “deserving but underserved families”. They now form part of the NativityMiguel Network, which comprises 64 Catholic middle schools across the US run by religious orders for children in impoverished neighbourhoods. The Nativity school in
chaplain Fr Jack Fagan to greet each pupil by name. They share a few words, and talk to any parents who have accompanied their sons. Then the pupils go into breakfast and assembly. “The morning greeting is an affirmation of the student’s dignity and a lesson in social etiquette,” says Mr Brunell. The school day runs for 10.5 hours. At
‘Jesuits try to take a long,
That’s what we try to do here’
Worcester, the state’s second largest city, offers a second chance to its 57 pupils, all aged beween nine and 14. Half are Hispanic; a quarter African American and African; and the remainder Asian and white. Ninety-five per cent are entitled to free school meals, a benchmark of poverty in the US. Many live in stressful homes with single parents in deprived, often violent neighbourhoods. Just before 8 a.m. either the president,
Matthew Brunell, or the principal, Sean Dillon, is at the school entrance with
S6 | TABLET Education | 5 February 2011
loving look at the real.
3.30 p.m. academic classes give way to after-school and evening activities, including homework, theatre visits, choir, drama and sports. One Saturday a month there are field trips, and in the summer a three-week overnight programme, with an emphasis on leadership and initiative training. The curriculum has a strong
ethical and spiritual basis. Although Worcester is a strongly Catholic city – there were five Catholic churches within walking distance of where I was staying – fewer than a third of
the pupils are Catholic. Baptists, Pentecostals and other Christians make up the rest. Mr Brunell explains: “First and foremost
this is a Jesuit school and we want our boys to emerge with a relationship with God, to know who God is in their lives. We affirm different faith traditions. To that end we do not employ traditional catechism but have a curriculum that goes to great lengths to develop boys’ relationship with God. By the
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