The Providence Journal

November 18, 2005

The little school where so much becomes possible.

This is the way a school day should start—with The Pledge of Allegiance and hands in the air and an eagerness to be a part of things. 

Yesterday, at the San Miguel School, the word was “veracious” and the state of interest was Utah.  Veracious was spelled, defined, used in a sentence.  Utah was discussed for having the country’s highest literacy rate and for ranking 11^th in the order of states by size. 

In the assembly room, which doubles and triples as a lot of other things in the school basement, the student body in their blue school sweats began another day yesterday by learning some things about veracious and Utah and each other.  They shared news of illness at home.  They also walked to the front of the room and cited schoolmates for showing good sportsmanship in gym class. 

This is not your brother’s inner-city school.  This is a small place with big plans built on things as simple as a single word and a handshake. 

San Miguel, on Carter Street in Providence, is always good to bet back to.  It is too bad that there can’t be some way for people to just stop by and take in a good, full taste of the place before heading off to deal with the daily push and shove.

It has 64 students in grades 5 through 8.  It has no gym or athletic fields.  It uses a nearby public field, which ahs to be checked for condoms and shell casings before being used for sports. 

It has teachers who aren’t in it for the money and who often carry job descriptions that can change in an instant.  It has small classes and an intensely personal approach.

The school is run by the Christian Brothers.  It opened 12 years ago in the former St. Paul’s Christian Day School with a student body of 13 and a faculty of 3. 

It saves kids.  It finds them on the verge of being swallowed up by the double curse of poverty and overburdened public schools.  And it brings them to this civil place where they learn to put high value on the things they can do. 

“There’s more attention here,” says Luis Ortiz, an eighth grader who plays violin and hopes to go to La Salle or St. Raphael next year.  “They help you whenever you need it.”

He sits across from Jason Khang, a fifth grader who has found San Miguel offers new possibilities. 

“I was smart at my other school,” says Khang.  “But I think I’m getting smarter here.”

The classes are small.  There is time for a lot of one on one.

And there is that initial jolt for the first time visitor — a student with his hand outstretched, offering an introduction and a welcome. 

But one thing San Miguel does not do is drip with cash.  Some parents pay as little as $50 a month towards tuition.  And that is a serious bite from the family budget. 

So fundraising is never ending.  A core group of supporters has been incredibly generous, but school officials know that if they are ever to realize the dream of building a school with everything its students need, they must extend their reach.

Tomorrow, they are reaching all the way to the East Side of Providence where about half the student body will hit the streets to spread the message of San Miguel.

This is a first.  The students will be armed with school newsletters and their manners and they will try to convince people that San Miguel has great public value even for those who don’t send their children there.

It has value because it lessens the odds.  It takes kids facing every possible reason to pack it in and gives them reasons to make plans and think about the future. 

It’s a good, solid investment.

Bob Kerr can be reached by e-mail at bkerr@projo.com.