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“We want to stay focused and get good
grades,” said Tae’yana Willis, a fifth grader at Ella P.
Stewart Academy for Girls, during a press conference this
past Monday at which a group of concerned citizens urged the
school district to maintain the Stewart/Lincoln Academy for
Boys status quo.
“If you mess with success, you will have a
bigger problem on your hands,” said Rev. Talmadge Thomas,
one of the event’s organizers. “We are here to show our
support … and our concern … that [Stewart] remains a single
gender academy.”
Among the reasons that Thomas cited for
keeping the single gender schools is the academic progress
that Stewart, in particular, has made since the experiment
began six years ago. Stewart had a 96 percent passage rate
in sixth grade reading in 2008-2009, for example, compared
to a 14.9 percent rate in 2002 before the school became an
all-girls academy; a 68 percent passage rate in sixth grade
math compared to 20.4 percent in 2002; a 71 percent passage
rate in fourth grade reading compared to 24.2 percent in
2002 and a 58.9 percent passage rate in fourth grade math
compared to a 14.8 percent rate in 2002.
Stewart’s attendance rate is currently close
to 97 percent and since 2003 there have been no expulsions,
noted Thomas.
Joining Thomas were a host of community
partners such as representatives from The Links, Inc, the
Toledo NAACP, the Greater Toledo Urban League, Toledo City
Council, among others.
“Girls need an opportunity to grow at their
own pace,” said Toledo City Council President Wilma Brown
who cited her past experience on the Toledo Board of
Education as well as her years in a leadership position with
the Girl Scouts of America as a basis of her concern about
the education of female students.
“Toledo needs things that work,” said Brown.
“Girls need their own place.”
Both Stewart and Lincoln were ranked on the
State of Ohio Report Card in the continuous improvement
category during the 2008-2009 academic year. Stewart has an
enrollment of 230 students while Lincoln’s enrollment is
147. |
