Marie Cole, PS7 in Sacramento

Charter school parent Marie Cole shared her story and perspective at a press conference in September on how charter schools are effectively serving African American students. She is a parent at at PS7 in Sacramento.

See Marie at minute 27 of the press conference.

My oldest son is a senior at Sac High this year. He was in the first fourth-grade class of PS7 when Mayor Kevin Johnson first founded the school. I found the school on a fluke. It was in the summertime and there were yard signs out that said "Charter school opening - enroll your student." I went and met the administrators and signed up. Two weeks later, I got a letter that my son had been accepted.

I had been lead to believe that my son had a learning disability because, in the second and third grade, he would finish his work more quickly than the other kids, then he would get distracted and he would distract his classmates. His teachers didn't have time to give him extra work. We went to PS7 and my son excelled - he was an overachiever and it was a blessing. It wasn't something that was frowned upon. It wasn't punished - he was encouraged more and more to excel.

It made me look at not only wanting to help the school, but to be more a part of his education. At many traditional public schools, you're not really allowed to just walk in and say, "Hi, can I help?" They will say, "No, we have a PTA for that." But not here at PS7 - it's an open door policy. They want you to come in and be here and volunteer. I kind of became a fixture at the school, which was a blessing. This school is very family-oriented. To see these scores, it's awesome. As a parent, it's exciting because my son is a part of this.

Find out more about the African American student report and schools in Oakland and Los Angeles that were also highlighted for being highly effective.