A school in northwest London might seem to have little bearing on our culture wars in the United States. But the nature of the Michaela Community School, located in the unfashionable district of Wembley, and of a lawsuit it won this month in Britain’s High Court offer lessons for other countries struggling to accommodate large immigrant populations and disparate mores.

The Michaela Community School was founded and is run by a kindly but resolute disciplinarian called Katharine Birbalsingh, who is renowned as the strictest head teacher in Britain. She once worked as the national government’s “social mobility czar,” which suggests that she has clear ideas about what helps children from lower social classes rise and achieve success.