David School Inc

     The David School provides a place where students who have long thought of themselves as failures can experience success, individual growth, and self-worth. They are not incapable of learning; rather, they have generally not received adequate attention from their previous school and/or their families. Our organizational goals are first of all academic: we are committed to encouraging our students to stay in school, to work towards a high school diploma (or, in some cases, a GED), and go on to become self-sufficient, lifelong learners capable of pursuing post-secondary education and/or sustainable employment. Just as important, we are committed to developing a lifelong “habit” of labor and service to their community – of “learning while serving.”

To fulfill these goals, we have developed a non-traditional, comprehensive, recognized educational program that includes a work study component. Attention is individualized; the environment is nurturing; goals for each student are specific; student to teacher ratio is 5 to 1. The curriculum is tailored to a student learning style that tends to be more kinesthetic and visual than auditory. In small classes (4-8 students) taught by a well qualified faculty who serve in most cases for only a tiny stipend and housing, students take daily classes in English, Math, Science, and Social Studies and a few electives. Wood Shop (which also enhances both reading and math skills) is required each year a student is enrolled. 

Beyond the traditional classroom, we use our extensive grounds and woods to teach environmental education and as a vehicle to support academic skills. Our school garden also provides concrete ways to enhance these skills, like calculating the percentage of seeds germinated, or researching and writing about the traditional uses of various herbs. The school is active in the Grow Appalachia program administered by long-time partner Berea College. 

Students learn life skills by working alongside faculty to build trusting relationships. This community gathers for reflection every morning, sits together at lunch, and periodically enjoys student-faculty recreational activities. They work together in the kitchen to prepare and clean up after the noon meal, tend the school garden, and serve as the building’s custodial staff. We increased the length of the school day last year by 30 minutes, which allowed us to further support our students academically by providing a regular time for them to make up missed work, get additional help, or take on additional challenges. This time allowed us to further support our students’ life skills with the formation of clubs and small group advisories, a student council, service trips to the local nursing home and food pantry, and the development of a garden mentorship program where students work alongside a local commercial farmer. 

Our average student enters at age 16 as a freshman or sophomore with 6th grade reading and math levels. The school is in an abandoned coal town in Floyd County, where the poverty rate for children is the highest in Kentucky. Teen pregnancy and access to drugs are rampant; many never graduate from high school, let alone college. It is also a beautiful area, rich in natural resources, where the outdoors and the values of independence, resilience, and care for extended family are cherished.  

We began this school year with 27 students. Perhaps the statistics below speak most eloquently both to the opportunity and the tremendous challenges we have before us:

2 seniors are about to be the first in their family to graduate from high school

9 are back in school after having dropped out for at least 9 months at some point

13 live with only one parent

6 don’t live with either parent

4 have a parent who is deceased

8 have had (or still have) a parent in jail

4 are already parents themselves

90% qualify for free lunch

Obviously, these are not students who merely enroll and head off to class. Our program is intensive (and expensive), but it is a program that works. Through an equal measure of nurturing and tough love, we have turned lives around again and again and again. Please help us continue to make a positive diffreence in southeastern Kentucky.