By Lauren Henry '99 - The Taft School

S P O T L I G H TBradley Brown takes a moment to think while finishing a spelling test in English class.EIGHTY-NINE students, whose achievementranged from third to 12th-grade level,were originally enrolled in the NewLeadership Charter School when itssummer semester began in 1998. Thestudents were required to read fourbooks, which was a substantial challengefor most of them. Armstrong wanted toassess the group’s reading level and togive them a sense of what the schoolwould require of them. Twenty-fivedropped out before the fall.With classes held 220 days a year,including Saturday mornings, morethan any other school in the state, theNew Leadership Charter School demandsa lot from students and theirparents. While some students regularlyskip Saturdays, those who come say theydon’t mind it. “It gives us something todo,” says honor-roll student Daniel Rios.“It really helps us. Three extra hours aweek move us towards succeeding.”Order and discipline are major aspectsof the school’s program, andArmstrong is always vigilant. As studentsgo between classes, he stands outside hisoffice chatting with them and spottingthose who are out of uniform, headinginto the wrong classroom, or otherwiseout of line.“That’s a chewing-gum smile,” hesays to a girl who passes by, reminding herthat gum chewing is not allowed. Anothergirl comes to tell him she is unpreparedfor a test because she went to church thenight before. “When did you learn aboutthe test?” he asks. Reluctantly she admitsshe’s known about it since the week beforeand he sends her off to take it.A teacher stops to consult withArmstrong about a chronically troublesomestudent who came to schoolwearing improper shoes and is spendingthe day in his stocking feet. Accordingto Armstrong, this boy has major familyproblems, and teachers in other schoolshave assumed that he is simply unteachablebecause of his unruliness. “He hatesit when we’re tough on him, but we needto be,” says Armstrong. “He’d disintegratein regular public school. He issearching for a structure he can be securein. He’ll strike out until he findssomething to attach to. With lots of kidslike this, it’s the police.”Armstrong points out that despitethe boy’s attitude problems, his test scoresshow he is the third-most-improved studentin the school. “A confrontation canbe loving,” explains Armstrong. “You sayto a kid, ‘You can do it,’ but you muststick with them. These kids need rigorand tests, but that’s not all they need.They need people who are trying to understandtheir emotional lives, peoplewho will meet them halfway.”6 Fall 1999