After talking with several members of the community, we were able to get a sense of how the O’Farrell and Morse students are perceived. The responses varied depending on the school. Generally there was more positive feedback when discussing O’Farrell than with Morse.
We talked with a wide range of people, including a teacher’s assistant, a worker at McDonald’s restaurant, several parents of current and ex-students at O’Farrell and Morse, and a local business owner. The overall impression was that the students at O’Farrell are good kids. Common words used to describe that O’Farrell students were intelligent, creative, and motivated. The people with knowledge of O’Farrell were very impressed with the computer technology being taught to the students. The family structure at O’Farrell was also mentioned as a positive aspect. One of the parents said her daughter was on a waiting list to get into O’Farrell, exemplifying the positive image that she had for the school.
On the other hand the people we interviewed had a different view of Morse. One man that was interviewed had two children who had attended Morse, and he thought like any other school it had its bad seeds. He believes the school has it problems but that it depends on who your children choose to hang out with and what your children choose to do. He also stated that he has seen a dramatic improvement at Morse since his first daughter entered the school and his youngest daughter entered. A Mexican-American woman chose to pull her daughter out of Morse because she was being harassed by Mexican-American gang members. Unfortunately, the people we interviewed did not differentiate between O’Farrell and Morse students when using adjectives to describe them.
Our overall feeling about the schools is that we are excited to see the schools for ourselves. It is difficult for us to describe what we think when most of us have not had the opportunity to experience the schools and the students they produce. We do feel that the teachers should be proud because of the advancements that have been made at both schools. O’Farrell and Morse are both offering their students a different experience than most traditional schools and we are just beginning to see the positive results.