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Code Switch

The Passing Of A "Failing" School

Code Switch

NPR

Society & Culture

4.614.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2017

⏱️ 38 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When a school shuts down, students lose more than a place of learning; they lose friends, mentors and a community. This is an experience that disproportionately affects black students in the U.S. Shereen Marisol Meraji looks at what it's like when a predominantly black suburb outside Pittsburgh loses its only public high school.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, I'm Kelly McEvers and Embedded is Back.

0:03.4

President Donald Trump has no record of public service,

0:06.4

but he does have a record in business and on TV.

0:10.9

In our latest round of stories, we

0:12.1

introduce you to the people who were there

0:14.3

as he built an empire and a name.

0:17.3

Listen on the NPR1 app or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:21.2

When the world is telling you that black men are dangerous,

0:30.9

the world is telling you that they leave their families

0:33.9

and all of these negative things, we have to counter that narrative, right?

0:41.7

We're doing something different on the COSWitch podcast starting next week.

0:45.2

That's right. We're bringing you the story of a brand new public school in Washington, DC.

0:49.7

It's a school for black boys and it's staff mostly by black men.

0:53.0

The school mascot is the monarchs.

0:55.0

The staff calls it students Young Kings.

0:57.4

And Kai Henderson, who you just heard is the woman who used to run DC public schools,

1:00.7

she says there's a reason for that.

1:03.0

You have to speak greatness into young people.

1:06.0

Speaking greatness into the Young Kings of Ron Brown,

1:09.0

Preparatory High and all its challenges, that's next week on COSWitch.

1:12.9

It's our three-part series documenting the very first year of an unconventional new school.

1:19.7

But this week, we're telling a different story.

...

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