Last Week at Central Falls High School I walked in which some preconceived notions on what to expect. To begin, I must preface this post with some background information on my experiences in inner city schools which heavily impacted my expectations for last Tuesday's first meeting of SED. I went to East Providence High School which was an overpopulated school in a major city in Rhode Island, furthermore my assigned school for last year's FNED 406 was Nathaniel Greene Middle School on Chalkstone Ave in Providence. Those schools were in bad shape, Greene especially was an old building in which the water fountains didn't work, the walls were covered in stains and the lighting was dim. So when I walked into CFHS I expected more of the same. I walked in expecting to see a school that reflected the stereotype of an inner-city school.
Aside from the broken lockers in the hallway, CFHS was in better shape than I expected. Walking through the library I expected to see equipment that was out of date, maybe a few computers and a collection of older books. I was pleasantly surprised to see at least 15 newer computers assembled in the library, and books being offered for free lined up along the walls. In the hallways I did not expect to see the signs on the walls illustrating the expected rules for student conduct. Furthermore, I did not expect to see the display of student accomplishments in the National Honors Society high lighting the academic excellence of some of the students of CFHS. As a member of a working class family from one of the more affluent neighborhoods of East Providence I expected to see graffiti on the walls. In the past Central Falls High School has been in the new for gang related violence and poor performance so I expected to walk into an environment that reflected that persona.
Even though there were no students I saw a school that was trying to shed that image rather than surrendering over to it. I know from my previous experiences in the inner city school system to expect the economic strain to take its toll on a school, but CFHS was a lot better than I expected. I look forward to seeing what the schools look like when students fill the halls this week. I will be looking for the interactions between the students and the teachers as well as what the school looks like after more than one week after being open.
