Why only Sumner Academy?
EDITOR’S COMMENTARY
SUMNER HAS EXCELLED IN ACADEMICS; WHAT ABOUT OTHERS? By Wayne Hodges
KANSAS CITY, Kan – On May 16, 2005, Newsweek Magazine ranked Sumner Academy 75th in its list of “100 Best High Schools in America.” In 2004, the school was listed in 99th place. In 2008, Sumner came in at a highly respectable #183. And recently, Newsweek ranked Sumner the #1 school in the entire state of Kansas; ahead of perennial powers Blue Valley Northwest and Shawnee Mission South. Outstanding! Now comes the million dollar question: why aren’t other high schools in Kansas City, Kan. held to a similar academic standard? Seriously, I don’t get it. And why haven’t more residents posed this question?
If you’re unfamiliar with the Kansas City Kan. School District, I’ll brief you. At Sumner, students must maintain a 2.5 or higher GPA to attend the academy. The institution, which first opened during the segregation era in 1905, is an active participant in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program. Sumner offers several college prep and IB courses, and the students continue to flourish as a result. Ahh…if only the same were true for the rest of KCK’s public high schools.
Look, I’m not suggesting the other institutions are poor. But, if you pay a visit to the campuses at Wyandotte High, Harmon, Schlagle and Washington, you’ll certainly notice the difference in educational quality when compared to the mighty Sabres of Sumner Academy. And I’m just not sure it’s fair. Seriously, imagine how dominant the district would become if Sumner’s scholastic standards were considered the rule for all students; rather than the exception. Hey, it’s been done before. Why can’t it be done again?
Sumner Academy remains a juggernaut in both sports and academics
For instance, Wyandotte High School, which was designated as an historic landmark in 1985, won 20 state titles in basketball; including an undefeated national championship season in 1923. Hoops legends Lucious Allen and Larry Drew, both former NBA players, starred there. Calvin Thompson, another Wyandotte alum, played for Hall-of-Fame coach Larry Brown at the University of Kansas. Alum Reggie Jones went on to compete in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers.
Heck, actor Edward Asner (known to most of us as Lou Grant from the Mary Tyler Moore Show) is also a Wyandotte High alum. Actress Dee Wallace-Stone, who played Elliot’s mother in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film classic “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” attended Wyandotte too. Hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of other former ‘Bulldogs’ have gone on to experience huge success through the years. The same can be said for Harmon, Schlagle, and Washington too.
That said, it’s painfully obvious Sumner Academy resides in a different league today when it comes to academic excellence. And, make no mistake about it, the school certainly deserves to be commended. However, if school administrators and parents are serious about improving the overall quality of education in USD #500, the sister institutions must be held to a similar academic standard. Why only Sumner Academy?
Wayne Hodges, an MBA from St. Mary University, is the editor of “Mass Appeal News.” He is also a candidate for Kansas Senate District #7, an adjunct professor, and MPA at Kansas University. Wayne welcomes your comments at whodges@massappealnews.com
*** To view the complete list of Newsweek’s best high schools, click here ***
SUMNER DOMINATES SCIENCE FAIR FOR MOST OF 1950′S, by Frank T. Manheim
KANSAS CITY, Kan – Around the time of the Topeka decision, students of Sumner High School, a segregated Negro high school in Kansas City Kansas, accomplished something not only unexpected, but improbable, considering the prevailing conditions of discrimination, low funding, as well as the lower educational and socioeconomic background of the Negro population that Sumner served. Sumner dominated all Metropolitan Kansas City high schools in awards for science presentations in the newly initiated National Science Fairs program. It was not a fluke. Sumner would dominate top science prizes for much of the 1950s.
To view Sumner vs Basehor in hoops, click the arrow.
June 18th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Honestly, I’ve never been the smartest person in the books, but I know that I could’ve done well at Sumner. Basically they have a group of kids that want to be there and don’t want drama at school. They are not the smartest, and they are not without issues, but these are kids that decided I want to graduate high school and I’m going to work in class to do it. My son got a 3.07 this year (at Sumner) and he didn’t work hard till the last semester of school. I rarely seen him study, and when he did it was no longer than 10-20 mins once a week.
The high rankings come from the IB (or International Business) program that they make Jr’s and Sr’s do. They have to have taken and passed at least 2 IB courses in order to graduate. But some students decide to go full IB, that means every class is a college prep style class. The class work is hard, gruesome, and literally drive some kids crazy. But they do very well in those classes and that’s what the school ranking is on.
But if you actually go in the school the kids are pretty much mild manored, half the time they don’t even lock their lockers because it’s rare anyone steals out of a locker. It’s pretty cool. The other schools can do it, but it takes work, so why try?
June 18th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
I went to Sumner Academy!!! Go Sabres! Discipline and focus-that’s how we learn.
June 18th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
That’s awesome! Still can’t live in The Dot but that is quite impressive nonetheless!
June 18th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
hodges great article and i agree with the question “why only sumner academy?” when will the parents get off they ass and start making the school board responsible for creating fair and equal education???? sumner is located in the ghetto and the students are still the best in the state. what does this say for the other schools????? it tells me people are using low test scores as cop-outs. sumner is #1 and the rest of the schools are horrible. somethin aint right in KCK
June 19th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Your question is, why can’t the other Wy. Co. high schools do as well as Sumner. I believe it is because Sumner only takes the best and brightest students. They also pull from the Catholic grade schools. I would think class sizes would be smaller than other high schools, and I would think, there is probably lots of parental involvement at Sumner.
June 19th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
Wayne,
I taught in the K.C.K. school district from 67 to 80, and part of that time, I was assigned to the same school as Gloria Willis in Argentine.
I think for kids to succeed, parents are the number one support. If they don’t have that, there will not be success. For kids to attend Sumner, they must take a test. They have to be willing to leave their friends to go to another school. They have to be willing to try hard. So many kids do not have parents who are even interested in getting them to the test site. They don’t talk up the importance of getting good grades or going to an accelerated school. The parents have to put themselves out as much as the kids do if they want something better for their kids.
Seems like everyone wants to blame the teachers, but teachers can do only so much. Parents are first teachers and are most accountable. at least in my opinion.
Teri
June 21st, 2010 at 9:40 am
“why sumner” because the district is only interested in making blacks a permanent underclass. there is your answer.
June 21st, 2010 at 10:00 am
My sister is a graduate of Sumner ’87. I’ve somewhat lost touch with my school Washington (’83), but I can say that Washington “used” to be an outstanding high school. The numbers from my graduating class would compete with any across the nation and the collegiate degrees and professional careers that followed would rival any in KCK. Just a perspective. I wish the best for USD #500. It was a great public school system once upon a time.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:41 am
Wayne,
When spoke out 2 weeks ago about the closing of half the KCMSD schools being a political decision,what I was referring to was that I have reason to believe that what the KCMSD is experiencing is more than just an economic decision,I think this is an effort on the part of conservatives to shove “School Choice” done the throat of inner city districts around the country.
These legislators from rural districts are tired of seeing the money figures that go to districts like Kansas City and St.Louis,and since they don’t want to educate Black and Latino children,they just use the ol’ George Bush tactic;de-fund or underfund the programs and systems they don’t like and say there’s not enough money,then find ways to give those education dollars to schools run by churches and their political friends. That way they can also get around any regulations enforced by the U.S. Department of Education and eventually justify dismantling that federal agency.
It’s up to us to scutinize the actions of these Klansmen in three-piece suits,since they spent more time bad-mouthing the KCMSD and no time at all coming up with constructive ways to improve the education for our children.
Barry Jackson