VIRGINIA BEACH
Second-grader Diamond Godfrey beamed as she slid into the chair her classmate had pulled out for her. She thanked him, sat up straight and scooted toward the table.
Around her, words like “please” and “manners” dotted the walls.
This wasn’t your typical classroom. It wasn’t your average school day, either.
An Achievable Dream Academy kicked off at Seatack Elementary School on July 21 with a two-week orientation to get students used to a new schedule and structure.
The program features longer hours and Saturday classes for students in kindergarten through second grade. It also includes a social and moral curriculum, which is intended to help students succeed outside of school.
An Achievable Dream has been operating in Newport News for low-income students for more than 20 years, but this is the first of its kind in Virginia Beach.
The program boasts a 100 percent rate of graduates going on to college or the military. Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University and Virginia Tech offer full scholarships to every graduate of An Achievable Dream who is accepted at their institutions.
Implementation of the new regimen wasn’t without controversy. Some community leaders said it was offensive that the city’s oldest African American community was being considered for a school that teaches manners.
Parents, however, expressed approval for the program and it moved forward.
“Some in the neighborhood thought it would be too strict,” Principal Mary Daniels said. “I think our greatest allies will be the parents.”
Wednesday started with about 150 students filing into the school for the daily 8 a.m. handshake with administrators and teachers. Some children shyly reached out their hands, while others smiled and made eye contact. The receiving line later will include members of the community, such as Navy officers from the Oceana Naval Air Station.
After the initial greeting, breakfast was served and social classes convened.
In a session on conflict resolution, Suzanne Myers asked her second-graders if they’d ever had a disagreement. Hands shot up. Jessie Malarkey explained a recurring argument with his older sister over choosing candy at the movies.
“How do you solve that?” Myers asked.
“We have to pick the same kind,” Jessie responded.
Daniels said the orientation, which ended Wednesday, ran smoothly with no reported disciplinary actions. No families have pulled their students out of the program since it began, and only a handful did so in the spring.
“You can feel a difference. It’s been fabulous,” Daniels said.
The students are off for the remainder of the summer and will return Sept. 2 when the rest of the public school division begins its academic year.
An Achievable Dream will add a grade level to its curriculum each year, and a second location will be added in three years so students can continue with the program through high school. The division hopes to reach 1,000 students by the time the first class graduates in 2025.
Mary Beth Cleavelin, 757-222-5131, marybeth.cleavelin@pilotonline.com
