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Lenya Peters, parent of one child at Howe:
My two older children were in the gifted classes and did well at Howe, but my youngest son, Lamont, really struggled. I saw that he was not performing at the level I thought he should. He was put in the regular classes, but the teachers were teaching two years behind the grade level. School was boring, he said. He had no As, no Bs, he just wasn’t getting it, he had no interest in reading. I always knew he was underachieving. It hurt his self esteem, and that made him angry. He was allowed to stay in that mind frame for years. I tried counseling, I tried everything. Nothing worked.
I loved Howe before, so I didn’t embrace the turnaround. But now I see that the staff has such a level of compassion for the kids, such dedication and commitment. The new teachers began to embrace my son right where he was and started dealing with him personally. They helped me embrace him where he was. I would email his teachers and get a response. I thought, “Oh my God, my prayers have been answered.” God blew my mind with AUSL.
When they opened up sports, the coach grabbed my son in the hallway and put him on the wrestling team. They just would not give up on him. Once he started wrestling, the anger went away. Lamont became the number one wrestler in the school. You would never know my son had this talent if it weren’t for the coach and staff at Howe. The coach would call him before school and say, “Are you up and ready?” The staff’s commitment is 24-7 and their dedication to my son and the other kids is amazing. They do it without beating him down. My son is in eighth grade, and now his scores are high enough to go to selective enrollment for high school (for academically advanced students). And my son has the confidence that he can do anything. I’m so proud of him. For AUSL to come in, quiet him down and release the anger in one year, that’s a miracle. |
