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INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS TRY TO DO THEIR VERY BEST THROUGH THE RAISING OF ENDOWMENTS TO ATTRACT THE VERY BEST CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. IT’S THE WAY YOU BUILD THE BEST POSSIBLE SCHOOL. THAT DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN THE WEALTHIEST FAMILIES—IT’S THE BEST FAMILIES.” —ROBERT GOLDBERG
Even taking into account these scholarship and financial-aid programs, private education nevertheless will be beyond the reach of some Palm Beach County families. This needn’t necessarily worry parents, though, explains Superintendent Fennoy, who suggests a public education may give their children some advantages. “I will argue that a lot of what you receive in a private-school setting, there’s a lot of that level of opportunity that you receive in the public schools,” he says, referring to Palm Beach County’s robust offering of Choice and Magnet school programs, which identify students’ areas of talent and nurture these interests to further their passion for learning. “I also think there’s something to be said for the rich diversity that exists in the public schools,” he adds. “There’s not a lot of groupthink. You have kids who come from a variety of different backgrounds and socioeconomic levels. It’s much more of a representation of society at large, and I think it better prepares kids to lead or participate in the world when they’ve had to engage with someone who is different from them.” One of the most successful of Palm Beach County’s Magnet/Choice programs has been the Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, which consistently ranks in the top 100 public high schools nationwide. Originally developed as an experimental program to rein in students at risk of dropping out by renewing their enthusiasm for learning through the arts, Dreyfoos has grown into a 1,400-member student body whose graduates frequently matriculate at Ivy League schools and world-class conservatories. “We don’t even look at grades when we take kids in; we look at whether they pass the audition,” says Principal Susan Atherley, PhD. “We do get kids who are not performing well on their state assessments, but what happens is once they get to this school, they are embraced and supported. It is driven somewhat by their arts, because they feel like they belong here. If they didn’t like the school they were at before, they come here and love this school. It changes their whole attitude. We are ranked high, but I attribute that to the fact that when they get here, they enjoy school.” The importance of the arts to education in general cannot be understated, and one of the greatest setbacks to public education in recent years has been the overemphasis on STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at the expense of the arts and humanities. “There is a trend nationally, with pressures from different segments of society, toward what is often referred to as a ‘practical education,’” says Ellen Goldey, PhD, Dean of the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic University, which through its close affiliation with the Scripps Research Institute and the Max 76
PALM BEACH ILLUSTRATED
Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience provides some of the most promising and unique opportunities for students pursuing careers in chemical and biomedical disciplines, among many others. “I think that can be narrowly defined in ways that are potentially restricting for students to really pursue what they’re good at, what their dreams may be, because I think often times students don’t know what all the options are.” Spirou concurs, highlighting the essential nature of the arts to an education: “We know the direct correlation between arts and creativity, which is a necessity in this day and age. We talk about creativity, and people automatically think arts and crafts, but creativity is problem-solving. Creativity is thinking critically, in different ways, and that’s really what Fortune 500 companies are looking for. They’re no longer just looking for that straight-A student, but rather for the student who performs well academically and who also can solve problems.” Goldey, a scientist with a strong background in the liberal arts, summarizes the synergistic relationship of knowledge and creativity in the sciences by highlighting a nationwide movement working to correct the misconception that science entails and holds paramount the mere memorization of fact. “In fact, science is anything but that,” she says. “You do have to memorize a lot of stuff, but for the most part that’s not science. Science is a very creative enterprise filled with uncertainty. You might have a question that you want to answer, and you develop a strategy to find that answer, but there might be a hundred different ways you could approach finding that answer. Students are very troubled by that initially, and then they get really excited—to think that, ‘There’s more than one way to do this? There’s more than one right answer here?’ Of course there is, and every field is like that. You’ve got to learn to be discerning, to look at the tools you have at hand to be able to address a question, and realize that somebody else might come up with a completely different approach that might be even better—and how exciting is that?” Excitement and performance within the classroom seem to be reciprocal: An engaged student is a happy student, and a happy student is an engaged student. And an engaged student, given proper guidance, will be far likelier not only to learn the material but also to grow into a thoughtful and admirable adult. Parents everywhere want their children to receive the best possible education, one that provides the skills necessary to find a meaningful and positive role to play in society while imbuing them with a sense of wonder and appreciation for the world in which they live—and throughout Palm Beach County, schools are apt to deliver this and much more. «