Success in the Central City: Julian Thomas Elementary

On November 7th 2000, the voters of eastern Racine County passed a RUSD referendum to renovate and expand the former Garfield Elementary School. (The school was renamed Julian Thomas Elementary in honor of the late Julian Thomas, a local civil rights leader.) This school was to be the district’s first “neighborhood school” where it only drew the student population from within walking distance of the school – no busing. The board, realizing that the student population of this proposed school would be mostly (86.2%) minority, extended a waiver from the district’s voluntary desegregation policy.

Fast forward a year or so - the newly hired superintendent, Dr. Thomas Hicks, apparently did not like the fact this school (still under construction) was slated to be a walk-in neighborhood school, so the school was then designated a “choice” school. This was done with hope that the strong science program, foreign language, and Suzuki strings would attract non-minority children from outside the neighborhood. At that time, Dr. Hicks, along with many others, seemed to think that economically disadvantaged minority children can only learn if sitting next to a kid from the suburbs.

Ironically, when the school became a “choice school”, many of the applicants were also minorities. When the school opened in 2003, the school population was still 80% minority. As expected, many predicted this school would fail. Even Dr. Hicks had concerns; he spoke at a board meeting expressing his concerns about creating a majority-minority school.

Fast forward a few more years - Dr. Hicks spoke of the successes of Julian Thomas in his 1st Annual State of the District Address on December 14th. Why do I share this story? Is it to try and prove that Dr. Hick’s education plan is a success, or do I have more sinister motives? No not really…I just find it ironic that the school that he did not want to exist is now the school that has become his major talking point.

The successes of Julian Thomas can be attributed to many things, I imagine. Increased parental involvement, a great staff, and additional district resources probably are all factors in the school’s recent achievements.

I find it extremely insulting that our local media has focused solely on Dr. Hick’s comprehensive reform plan (The Quality District Model), as the sole reason for the recent successes at Julian Thomas. It is a slap in the face to the many hard-working parents, teachers, support staff and community members that are working diligently every day making these small victories possible.