40 Years Laters, Former CPS Teacher Follows Marva Collins’ Footsteps

Veriner James
Veriner James

40 Years Laters, Former CPS Teacher Follows Marva Collins’ Footsteps

By: Katherine Newman

Over 40 years after Marva Collins opened the Westside Preparatory School on the second floor of her home in Garfield Park, Veriner James, a former teacher, and principal for Chicago Public Schools is following in her footsteps and opening her own all-girls middle school after being disheartened by the dwindling resources in public education.

Before opening Westside Preparatory, Collins worked as substitute teacher for Chicago Public School. She was motivated to open her own school for the children who were being failed by the public school system.

The school was small at first and open to any and all students, for a minimal tuition fee, who were not receiving the education they needed from Chicago Public Schools, according to Marva Collins biography published by The History Makers.

“I was inspired by Marva Collins. I didn’t realize until I started doing interviews to promote my school, that she was the first African American to not only found a school, but to own and operate her own school independent from Chicago Public Schools. I also didn’t realize that I would be the second African American woman to do that,” said James.

Like Collins, James was disappointed in the variances in the quality of public education from neighborhood to neighborhood. She thought moving from teaching to administration would give her a better platform to create some of the change she was hoping to see in the school system, but she was again disappointed.

“The more impoverished areas, they lacked the resources in comparison to a better neighborhood in regards to Chicago Public School’s system. Therefore, students are not provided the same quality of instruction so I was disheartened by that,” said James. “From an administrators position I thought that I would be able to make a difference, but then I realized that there was a political aspect where you’re really not in charge. That means

the changes you want to see you’re not able to make because again, there is a system in place that hinders you from doing what you need to do to get results.”

These experiences led James to found Exousia Leadership Academy for Girls. The all-girls school is set to open Sept. 4, 2018. Her goal is to provide young girls from all different backgrounds the opportunity to explore their interests in a way public education isn’t offering

right now.

“Exousia is open to all girls from all areas and backgrounds, but I do feel that African American girls are at a disadvantage in regard to being exposed to STEAM related curriculum, that’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math,” said James. “If our girls are not presented with that curriculum how will they develop in those fields and how do we begin to cultivate a generation of girls who take technology and engineering to the next level?”

For more information about Exousia Learning Academy for Girls visit www.elag.online.

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