There's a school in Northeast Portland that is unique. It is the only private middle school (6th - 8th grades) in the Northwest where there is no tuition, all the students are eligible for free or reduced-fee lunches, and there's a guarantee that graduates will be accepted into college prep schools and supported as they apply to colleges, with scholarships in hand. This year 93% of the high-school grads are going on to college!

So, how does this work? Well, it's because people believe that the best and cheapest way to help these kids, who come from all around the greater Portland area, is to see that they get a good education. Without the kind of excellent scholastic help that St. Andrew provides, most of these kids would, like their peers from their neighborhoods, be drop-outs, or in jail, or dead before they reach 18. Instead, identified as having potential, though 2-4 years below grade level, they find their way to St. Andrew Nativity School.

Once at Nativity the students encounter a day that begins at 7:45, with breakfast. On through classes and study halls and sports and community service, their day ends after a snack, at 5:15 - homework done. "See you in the morning" the staff say, trusting that again tomorrow, they'll be back. They also say that these must be the only kids anywhere who call to ask whether school REALLY needs to close on snow days! - And, remember, not everyone has a safe and welcoming home. And not all kids go to schools with bus passes, two meals & snacks, cooking classes, and teachers who totally expect the best from each one of them.

Again, how does this work? Not from government subsidies, or church allocations, or high tuitions, but from a community commitment to funding top-notch education for a vulnerable group of lucky students. The "you"s and the "I"s who donate, volunteer, sit on the board, and invite others to do the same, keep the school afloat. Individuals and foundations and community services form a safety net to hold these students up and accountable.

How wonderful it is that the students bounce high - upwards and outwards - enriching the very communities from which they came!