In a Boston neighborhood at the other end of Red Line, most Tufts students would feel like they were entering another world. The Codman Square area of Dorchester is most frequently publicized as the most gang- and drug-ridden area of Boston.
Amid the poverty and violence, however, is Epiphany School, a tuition-free middle school in the heart of Dorchester. The school accepts students through a lottery system; the only requirement for admittance is that a student qualifies for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program.
In return, the school offers students everything that Boston public schools lack. Open 11 months per year, nearly 12 hours a day, the school offers three complete meals, counseling, tutoring, daily athletics, "sleep away" summer camp and daily study hall.
With only 80 students (20 in each grade, five to eight), class sizes are small and individual attention in guaranteed. Epiphany has one teacher for every 10 students, compared to Boston public schools' one-to-28 ratio. While students can only be expelled for bringing a weapon to school, they are expected to abide by strict rules and complete their work. They are pushed to give 100 percent inside and outside the classroom.
While the school is tuition-free, parents must demonstrate substantial commitment to the school community to keep their child enrolled. Epiphany does not have a receptionist, janitor or bus system. Parents are required to volunteer in place of tuition by answering phones, cleaning and driving students to and from school.
If parents do not show up, they are required to meet with school administrators if they want their children to continue at Epiphany. But considering the school has a long wait-list and always more students than spaces, it is clear the product is worth the hard work to both parents and students.
Epiphany's mission is to give children who may not have much other educational opportunity the chance to achieve academic-level skills while gaining the confidence and motivation necessary to eschew street temptations in favor of college. Since the first students to graduate from Epiphany are college freshmen this year, Epiphany finally has hard evidence of what it has known all along: Its system works.
Of the first 20-student graduating class, 19 completed high school. Eighteen are currently enrolled in college, while the other one joined the military. This is compared to a national high school graduation rate of 68 percent, with low-income and minority groups rarely graduating above half. Epiphany helps place its students into private, parochial and charter high schools, with the top students in every class aspiring to top boarding schools and day schools, like Boston College High School and Boston Latin.
Epiphany is about 73 percent black, 19 percent Hispanic, four percent Asian and four percent white. Twenty percent of the school's students are foster children, identified by the Department of Social Services as those most in need of a full-service program. A significant portion of the school's students do not speak English at home. Some are new immigrants, and a few are homeless.
Epiphany's costs are high: At $20,000 per student per year, they're nearly double the $10,700-per-student Boston's public schools spends. But the results are astonishing. The daily attendance rate for students is 98 percent, with only a 1.3 percent overall drop-out rate. Standardized tests show Epiphany students advance an average of eight grade levels in reading and five grade levels in math over their four years at the school - jumping at least two during their first year. And 100 percent of Epiphany's eighth graders matriculate to high school every year.
But Epiphany doesn't just work for the students; it actually is proving to help bring entire families above the poverty line. Because students spend up to twelve hours a day in school, parents are able to work additional hours, get additional education and training, or spend more time searching for jobs. The result often not only increases family income, but also raises the family's overall standards of living above the federal poverty line.
I have been affiliated in various capacities with Epiphany since the summer of 2000 - serving as tutor, camp counselor, athletics coordinator, dorm parent and, most recently, a summer administrative coordinator last summer through an Active Citizenship Summer Grant from Tufts' University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS). This summer, I plan to go back as a teacher for their summer program in western Massachusetts.
If what you have read has inspired you, there are several ways to get involved.
First, if you are a senior, Epiphany hires several recent grads to intern-teach at the school. You get teaching and community development experience, the opportunity to concurrently work toward a master's degree, and a true making-a-difference, life-changing opportunity.
Second, Epiphany is always looking for tutors and mentors for its students. It takes less than an hour to get there from Tufts on the Red Line, and it is an opportunity to get involved with something that on a very real level is eradicating poverty and creating opportunity in the low-income area of Boston.
Finally, Epiphany hires counselors for its summer program in July, where for one month of your summer, you get to throw yourself into this incredible community. Check out the school's Web site at http://www.epiphanyschool.com/. for more information.
Anne Siarnacki (LA '05) has a degree in political science and economics.
