student this year who decided in October that an
AP English course wasn’t right for him. The school
responded with a conference that included the
student, his parents, teachers, and administrators.
It was Mr. Dowlen’s recommendation that the student remain in the higher course – while the class
was pushing students out of their comfort zones,
this was beneficial.
other to discuss students who might be struggling,
or potential interest and aptitudes for AP courses. Instructors work together to visualize current
underclassmen as juniors and seniors, thinking
through how best to prepare them. The priority is
always academic experience and improvement of
thought processes, Mr. Dowlen said – not specific
test scores.
The student ultimately opted to remain in the
course. For Mr. Dowlen, this was ultimately a
significant success story. Later in the year, the day
after the AP test, Mr. Dowlen chatted with this student about the test and was delighted to hear him
speak “in a wonderfully academic way” about the
tasks he’d been asked to complete.
“Teachers take the work exceptionally seriously.
They embrace that level of inquiry. They embrace
that level of rigor. They embrace the pace of that
work,” said Mr. Dowlen. “I think that’s part of that
college-going kind of culture that we have going
here at our school.”
“It was one of those moments. He would never
have talked that way in October,” Mr. Dowlen
said. “I’m hoping that eventually when he looks
back, he’ll say, ‘I did that.’”
Rev. Hartley said the culture of the school is exemplified by support and achievement. In the most
recent school year, one of his children took five
AP classes – one more than the typical maximum
of four – because a devoted instructor taught an
extra AP class during lunch. The workload was
“huge,” Rev. Hartley said, but his child chose to
take it on.
“There were several other students there doing
that, but they push each other,” said Rev. Hartley.
“They’ve had some good, challenging peers to
work on projects with.”
Strong teacher collaboration and dedication
helps MLK bring out the best in students. Though
schedules can be complicated, with some teachers
working in both middle and high school classrooms, MLK works to build time in the day for
collaboration. Colleagues reach out to one an37
Another exceptional feature of MLK is student
body diversity. Rev. Hartley said his kids have had
school friends and project collaborators from all
over the city, and from countries around the world.
“The racial diversity and the ethnic diversity – it’s
that horizon-broadening thing that college is supposed to be,” Rev. Hartley said.
For Mr. Dowlen, the diversity within each classroom provides powerful learning opportunities.
Students learn to be respectful of one another,
which shines through in all contexts and further
prepares them to continue learning and growing
long after high school.
“It’s really, really powerful when you can sit down
in a class like mine and students are working in
a group. They are exceptionally gracious to one
another. They help each other along. They don’t
judge each other. They know they have to work
together for this common goal,” Mr. Dowlen said.
“That diversity existing within a context of excellence and a context of cha