MIAMI (WSVN) - A well-known high school in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood has been steadily improving in recent years after the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent put a new administrative team in charge.
Miami Edison Senior High School, located in the area of Northwest 62nd Street and Fifth Court, had hit rock bottom in 2008 when it was on the verge of being shut down.
It was the 11th year in a row that the high school had received an overall F grade, but Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho vowed no more schools in the district would close.
Carvalho then assigned Principal Leon Maycock to the inner city school.
“Our kids are coming from different countries, speaking different languages and had to take an exam that’s in English when their first language is not English,” said Maycock. “We’ve been through a lot. It was a tough challenge for our kids, but we went through a lot in the past probably 10 to 15 years at this school.”
With a new administration in place, the school was able to make drastic improvements. In just one year the school raised it’s score from an F to a C grade.
In the decade since it almost shut down, the school’s graduation rates jumped to 91% and for the first time, received a B grade.
Maycock credits the improvement as a result of a shifted mindset and an environment nurturing growth.
“Our kids had internal motivations that, despite where they’re coming from — language barriers — they could do anything if they put their minds to it, so it was a great achievement for our kids and our community,” said Maycock.
“It’s more school spirit. You see more Edison pride,” said teacher Estavon York. “Every day I learn something new from a young person and I think I didn’t expect to learn as much. I thought I would be the one doing the teaching and honestly, I’m learning so much.”
That growing sense of pride York speaks of is embraced by the students as well.
“Now they’ve made things a lot better and a lot safer environment for the students and stuff,” said student Elgin Gosey.
“It’s just a great school. Other people want to go to Miami Northwestern, Miami Central, all these other different schools, but Edison’s not a bad school,” said student Aaliyah Scott.
Students, teachers and staff members said Miami Edison will continue to get better as they all contribute together to the success story.
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