Freedom Annex in Washington, D.C., is a different kind of high school.
It has no grades, no desks for teachers, no bells to end classes. The
students choose the teachers and set the curriculum. They attend only if
they choose, and they create hardly any disciplinary problems. Any that
arise are handled by students, not teachers. Freedom Annex is, in fact,
the first accredited student-run high school in the U.S.”Modern Strivers.” The school was opened last month after a year's
preparation by students at Washington's Eastern High School, where
there are only three whites in a student body of 2,400. Gregory Taylor,
now a senior, resented his classification as a “basic” student , and he was uninterested in what
he considered an irrelevant curriculum. Taylor organized a group called
the “Modern Strivers.” With the help of George Rhodes, Washington's
assistant superintendent for secondary schools, the Strivers worked out
a written proposal for their own freedom school.* They raised funds,
got the loan of two floors in a church-owned building and a promise of
volunteer bus service from Washington's Urban League.Freedom Annex now has a curriculum that many college black-studies
departments would envy. Twelve salaried and accredited teachers offer
85 students courses in black history, Swahili, black literature, black
art and drama and community organization. Students spend half their day
at Eastern High in the study of math and the sciences, half at the
Annex. Though the Annex gives no grades, just pass-fail ratings, the
high school gives full credit for Annex classes, and Eastern's
Principal William Saunders backs the student-run school
enthusiastically. He is particularly impressed by the lack of
disciplinary problems. “If all the students at Eastern High School
brought me the kind of problems the students at the Annex do,” says
Saunders, “my job would be a breeze and a source of continual challenge
and excitement.”Risk of Excess Success. Despite the emphasis on black studies and black
pride, no anti-white hostility is discernible. By their own efforts,
the students have rejected the lethargy and alienation inherent in
their ghetto lives, and they take a positive view of the future. They
plan to keep Freedom Annex improving and growing. Already, four
dropouts from Eastern, encouraged by the Annex's freedom, have returned
to classes and are doing well.The trouble is, despite donations and grants, the Annex does not have
enough money to operate for the entire year. The students plan to hold
a fashion show and put on a play to raise funds, but even if they
succeed their school will still be in danger. There is a possibility
that Washington will adopt the Annex program for its entire school
system. The Strivers would like to see the idea spread, but they know
that a large part of the Annex's appeal is that it is voluntary.
Massive adoption, they fear, might well kill the spirit that makes
Freedom Annex ring.
