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Save This PageThe school day starts with a look in the eye and a firm handshake at Achievable Dream Academy.
As the students make their way to the gymnasium for the morning meeting, each stops to greet the adults who line the hall.
A group from Richmond joined the lineup yesterday at the Newport News academy for at-risk students.
The students -- nearly 800 are enrolled in the K-5 component -- took it all in stride. A few gasped at the end of the line, but they all kept moving with smiles on their faces.
The dozen school officials, educators and business leaders from Richmond were on a fact-finding mission put together by Betsy Carr, the 5th District School Board member.
She said such trips play an important part in the battle to provide the best opportunities for students from areas not always known for opportunity.
"You can get overwhelmed," she said. "That's why you sometimes need to look at a little piece."
The contract school -- it's part of the Newport News system but runs independently -- has found innovative ways to keep students in school. It began in 1992 as a summerand after-school program and has expanded to included students in grades K-12.
The students in K-2 attend it as their zone school. From grade three on, the students are invited to attend based on risk factors, such as living conditions, academic achievement and family income.
"It's a laboratory school," said Katherine S. Edwards, development director. "We're more a dissemination model than a replication model."
Parts of the program can be seen in similar schools in Norfolk and Hampton -- and parts could find their way to Richmond.
"I think they have a number of innovations," said School Board Chairman George P. Braxton II. "We've identified many of the things that are cornerstones of their program."
Some of those things are in the city's New Direction program, others are in place already, such as all-school get-togethers to start the day at some Richmond schools.
Achievable Dream has made its mark by differing from the ways schools are typically run. Its program includes:
"Everything here is with the intent of the kids going out into the work force," said school founder Walter Segaloff. "You can teach them what's the right mindset to be a good employee."
Braxton said that while the Richmond School Board has discussed many of the ideas on display, "it's great to see a lot of this innovation at work."
Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or zreid@timesdispatch.com.
