Andreya Antoine dreamed of a change.
For five years, the spirited and motivated 11-year-old from Edgewood attended a Title I elementary school, which receives federal funds for its large population of low-income and at-risk students. “Most of my friends, they don’t want to be as challenged as I do,” Antoine said. “I told that to a lot of people, but they just didn’t want to hear it.”
So when a group of educators came to Magnolia Elementary and spoke about the state’s first public boarding school, which is free and where 98 percent of graduates are accepted to a four-year college, Antoine jumped at the chance.
The first SEED, or Schools for Educational Evolution and Development, school — the country’s first public boarding school — opened in 1998 in Washington. The second one — with grades six through 12 — opened this fall on the site of what was Southwestern High School in Baltimore City, and Gov. Martin O’Malley, Mayor Sheila Dixon and Rep. Elijah Cummings were there Tuesday to celebrate.
“It makes my heart glad, as my mother would say, to know that a SEED school is here,” Cummings told guests.
The school has gained national acclaim for its success with students who face disadvantages such as crime-ridden neighborhoods and broken homes.
In Baltimore, SEED students face a rigorous schedule, rising at 6 a.m. to prepare for class. They live five days a week in dormitories named after universities that SEED alumni have attended. And they study a challenging curriculum that prepares them for college.
“Some of the kids get homesick,” said Christopher Miller, 11, president of the student body, who added that character-value classes help students grow comfortable and mature.
More than 300 students in Maryland applied this past May for admission, and 80 sixth-graders were selected through a lottery process. Most are from the city, but several are from Howard, Washington and St. Mary’s counties.
The school eventually plans to enroll 400 students on its 52-acre campus, adding a new class of sixth-graders each year.
“I tell you what,” said Alisa Antoine, Andreya’s mother, as she looked over the campus. “They have such a vision.”
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