Maggie Harris
“LeBron’s School Flop Proves Money Can’t Buy Student Success.” “Why LeBron James’s I Promise School Has Failed to Live Up to Its Potential.” We’ve all seen the harsh headlines that sent shock waves throughout the country after an Akron Board of Education meeting revealed not a single I Promise School eighth grader passed the Ohio math test in the last three years.
With an exclusive interview with new I Promise School principal Stephanie Davis, we strived to tell the full story behind the headlines on pg. 24 and show why Davis may very well be the right leader to bring change. Plus, we compare the numbers to districtwide data that reveals other Akron Public Schools students are struggling too and show encouraging I Promise School student growth data that demonstrates progress. The story went online after school started July 31, and the comments started coming in.
It was heartening to see readers respectfully counter negative comments. To “I Promise to give your children nothing,” one commenter responded, “Give them a chance!”
To “Waste of taxpayer’s money” and “They need to stop spending money on this failed experiment,” a commenter wrote, “How is education a waste of taxpayer’s money? Education is progress. We need schools. Schools are NEVER a waste. … You are just looking at achievement instead of progress.”
Some praised Akron Life for not relying on shock value and digging deeper into the school’s wraparound model.
“This is the whole story. My students matter in entirety. These children are more than a test score,” an educator commented.
The students are just kids and don’t deserve hateful online comments. We must remember that the students come in about two grade levels behind academically because they are chosen from a lottery pool of the lowest 25th percentile of Akron Public Schools students in reading and math. More than two-thirds of the students are from low-income families, and some have faced trauma from violence, homelessness and more. James picked the lowest performers because he was a struggling student who didn’t have a stable place to live and famously missed 82 school days in fourth grade.
The school uses social-emotional learning to build trust with students, check on how they’re feeling and fill gaps.
“If I trust you I can say, I had a really bad night last night. I haven’t eaten anything, and I’m starving. I can’t focus,” says Michele Campbell, executive director of the LeBron James Family Foundation, which helps fund and operate the school. “It’s our job to help figure out what’s happening outside of school that might affect their learning in a negative way and fix it.”
Davis was an intervention specialist and principal of the nontraditional Bridges Learning Center, so she is confident and enthusiastic to take on a challenge.
“What an opportunity for growth if your kids are coming in not performing at grade level,” she says.
You feel that encouragement as you walk the school’s halls and enter classrooms, filled with vivid murals and graphics that say “Believe,” “Dream Big” and “We Are Family.” The school takes students who have been counted out and treats them like they are worthy. It needs time for that kind of transformation. The students are not just learning. Some of them are getting food from the food pantry, their parents have found jobs at House Three Thirty and their families have found housing at the I Promise Village or I Promise Housing. It’s more than a school. It’s a way to change lives. Why not give kids and families in need a better chance at thriving? I’m a parent, and when your child struggles, you don’t give up and walk away — you help them try again.
Davis is here for as many tries as it takes to get students caught up. When students get full support, she has seen them flourish.
“I don’t ever want a child to think that they have failed,” she says. “I have seen firsthand the impact of not only telling a child that I love them unconditionally but continuing to show up for them every day unconditionally because that’s what they deserve.”
