Today, my youngest child had his 5th grade promotion ceremony at Swansfield Elementary School. I’m all up in my feelings right now, not just because of the poignancy of childhood milestones, but also because it is hard to say goodbye to such a special school after seven years.
People in Howard County tend to look down on Swansfield, having bought into the notion that test scores or a rating on GreatSchools.com is all that’s required to determine a school’s caliber and predict student outcomes. However, those of us whose children attend schools like Swansfield know that there is immeasurably more to these schools than meets the eye.
I’ve spent the last seven years watching my children grow, learn, and mature like any other elementary school student in Howard County. But they’ve done so alongside students from all walks of life, all income levels, and all backgrounds. When I watch them playing with their motley crew of close friends, who belong to just about every identity group imaginable, I realize that they personify the very thing that doesn’t factor into a GreatSchools rating, but makes Swansfield great: its diverse student body.
A school that appreciates and celebrates its diversity is one that will foster compassionate, empathetic young people who are well-prepared to enter a world where not everyone is the same. They will embrace people rather than looking down on them, fearing them, or hating them. You can’t tutor that. You can’t put that on a standardized test. Yet, it’s as important to a child’s future – and that of our country – as anything they read in a textbook. Our world is becoming more diverse, not less. A school that represents the world in which it exists is something to be commended.
GreatSchools can’t put a number on that.
To the staff and educators at Swansfield Elementary School – thank you for all you’ve done for us. It has been a privilege for my children to be there.