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Photo by Dulce Michelle

“They give you that freedom. It’s like, ‘We’re not going to force you to do anything.’ But then they also have this conversation with us like, ‘You know, you need to be on top of your (stuff).’”

— Aiyanna, The James Baldwin School student    cdn.com/content/v1/574dc424b09f95e90074cdbc/1584480516456-3PPOAGHJJX2PFNUWJ9B2/taylor-mcgraw-headshot.jpg?format=1000w">

Taylor McGraw is The Bell’s executive director.

By Taylor McGraw

In 2016, when I was teaching writing at a high school in Brooklyn, I formed a bond with a student named Aiyanna. Every Friday after the last bell, Aiyanna and I would sit down for a recorded conversation about school, life, food — whatever came up. 

Our school was called Achievement First University Prep, part of a network of 37 charter schools across the northeast. Aiyanna, who had attended Achievement First schools since kindergarten, struggled to get good grades and stay out of trouble. She said in middle school she had a reserved seat in detention.

By the time I got to know Aiyanna during her 10th grade year, she had started to doubt her abilities as a student.

“I’m not going to make it,” she told me in one of those Friday conversations toward the end of the year. “I’m really not. I’m going to get left back. I’m going to be retained.”

I told her not to think that way, that she could still pass if she buckled down and did her work. It turned out to be wishful thinking. That next year, Aiyanna had to repeat the 10th grade, but I was not around for it. I left teaching at the end of that school year to launch The Bell.

So, you can imagine my surprise — and Aiyanna’s — when, after two years apart, I ran into her in the hallway of The James Baldwin School, where my student interns and I had been reporting Season 3 of Miseducation. It turns out that after another rough year at Achievement First, Aiyanna had transferred to Baldwin in the fall of 2018.

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Aiyanna and Taylor at The James Baldwin School in December 2019. Photo by Dulce Michelle Marquez

“I was like, ‘Oh, my god, I miss Mr. McGraw,” Aiyanna told me that day while we caught up in a spare classroom. “But I was actually wondering why you were here at the same time.”

Baldwin is one of New York City’s 51 transfer high schools, which are designed specifically to serve students like Aiyanna, who have fallen behind. The Miseducation team has been profiling its students to better understand what causes them to transfer, how Baldwin attempts to get them back on track, and whether it works. 

I was reluctant to include Aiyanna’s story in the season because I knew it would have to include my own story as her teacher, as well as critiques of a school where many former colleagues and friends still work. Ultimately, I decided the story needed telling.

Tune in to the latest episode of Miseducation to hear about Aiyanna’s transition from a school where they “pick up the fork and feed you” to a school with more freedom than she’d ever imagined. Along this serendipitous journey, you’ll hear about special education, “professionalism” and contrasting approaches to school discipline.

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This podcast season about transfer high schools is produced in partnership with The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

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The music for this season includes original tracks from Elijah Goodman, a.k.a. Ejcali, born in Santa Clarita, California, and now living in Brooklyn. He is an upcoming music producer self-taught in piano, inspired by creating various genres of music. In addition to working with Building Beats, Elijah is a member of S.I.M.B.A., a youth empowerment program in Brooklyn.