The Providence Journal

It takes very special ingredients to turn dozens of young adolescents into solid students and, we might add, gentlemen.  But The San Miguel School in Providence has mastered the recipe.

Indeed, the middle school pioneered in Providence has so impressed outsiders that it has become a blueprint for similar schools in Chicago, Camden, Minneapolis, Memphis, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, St. Louis and on a reservation in Montana.   A movement has grown out of a plain, easy-to-miss building on Carter Street. 

The San Miguel School is the creation of Christian Brother Lawrence Goyette.  The institution, however, is not a parochial school.  Its students come from a variety of

ethnic and religious traditions.  While moral and ethical principles are imbedded in the daily teachings, there is no formal religious instruction during regular school hours. 

What overwhelms visitors most is the students’ poise and self-control.  One must remember that many of these young men (at San Miguel, the students are called “men”) came to San Miguel because they were doing poorly in the public schools.  All are from low-income families.  They are 10 to 14 years old, often difficult ages for boys under the best of circumstances. 

Yet when Brother Lawrence calls    the boisterous students to order for  the morning assembly, silence takes over the cafeteria.  “I want you to listen.  All eyes up front,” he says.  And they do.  It seems a miracle.

Ask Brother Lawrence his secret, and he responds: “It’s so simple.  Everybody here knows everybody.”  Indeed, students are closely monitored so that bad behavior is immediately corrected and good behavior praised.  There are 10 grownups overseeing 60 kids. 

Well-to-do schools could learn a few things from San Miguel about the purpose of education.  The school is about more than academics.  Many of its graduates have gone on to college or technical schools, but the successful San Miguel man is also a good person.  Posted around the entrance are notices recognizing good deeds, essay writing, birthdays, athletic prowess and the hard-working San Miguel Man of the Week.  Not all students are going to become academic stars, but they all can feel part of and obligated to a larger community. 

Doing volunteer work is part of being a San Miguel man.  “It’s important to be grateful to all the people who are helping us,” Brother Lawrence said.  Miguel men work at nursing homes and are well represented in City Year’s Young Heroes program. 

San Miguel accomplishes much with very little money.  It spends only $7,200 a year per student, extraordinarily low, considering that the school maintains a high ratio of grownups to kids. 

While San Miguel does much on a low budget, it still needs money.  Brother Lawrence shies away from most government funding and the red tape that comes with it.  (An exception is welcome help from the Rhode Island Governor’s Justice Commission.)

While some families can pay some tuition, San Miguel depends largely on donations from individuals and foundations.  The ideal is to have donors sponsor students on an annual basis.  That way, Brother Lawrence can spend less time raising money.

Foundations and charitable individuals would be hard put to find a more worthy or effective use of their contributions.  San Miguel’s telephone number is (401) 467-9777.  Its Web site is www.sanmiguelprov.org.
United Way #4834

Reprinted with permission from
The Providence Journal
August 8, 2001