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A Global Microcosm

For a school in Astoria, Queens—one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country—“Our World Neighborhood” is an apt name in more than one way. The school’s strength is in capitalizing on the tremendous ethnic diversity of its student body, and the acronym “OWN” refers to the sense of pride and ownership that children and parents have in this five-year-old charter school. “What makes OWN special,” said trustee and parent Steve Zimmerman, “is that we have abided by our mission to set up a school to teach children to be members of a world community by utilizing the immense multicultural resources of our community.”

The K-8 school, housed in a sparkling new building across from the Museum of the Moving Image, has students from Eastern Europe, Asia, nearly every country in Latin America, Egypt, Morocco, Trinidad, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

Yet, the richness of the multicultural student body also provides the charter with a challenge, according to Principal Brian Ferguson, who has worked for years with diverse student populations. There are conflicting expectations about everything from doing homework to complying with the state’s wellness guidelines (what’s a healthier snack, pierogies or empanadas?) to handling bullying. “In our school, we say, ‘Don’t fight back,’” Ferguson said. “But in some cultures, if you don’t fight back that makes you a wuss.”

Our World Neighborhood deals with myriad viewpoints through its “PILLARS of a Positive Community” program that is woven into the English language arts and social studies curriculum. The school focuses on 10 pillars of civility and organizes monthly lessons around each one. For instance, the watchword for October is ‘courage.’ Students discuss quotes on the topic, such as Ernest Hemingway’s “Courage is grace under pressure,” and undertake grade-appropriate activities. Kindergarteners draw, for example, while middle school students study plays and graphic novels. Program facilitator Dorothy Dukantz tells stories that highlight different cultures’ perceptions of courage.

The integration between school lessons and home life occurs during Our World Neighborhood’s curriculum evenings. Most schools have one back-to-school night in which parents sit in small chairs and listen to teachers race through a preview of the year’s lessons. Our World Neighborhood invites students, teachers and parents to participate in classroom activities together three nights during the year. Parents and children move to stations within the classrooms of their child’s grade so they can get firsthand experience of not just the pillars of activity, but also of the school’s Spanish program (offered daily to all), core curriculum topics like reading, math and science, and arts activities. Zimmerman, whose 5th-grader, Noah, has grown up with Our World Neighborhood, says this is one of the reasons “we have amazing community support and a very high satisfaction rating with parents—we really wanted to have a school where parents felt their input mattered—not a place where they just dropped off and picked up the kids.”

— Nancy Brandwein