From first through eighth grade, I attended a small, private Christian school called Providence. When I was in second grade (1995), the founders of Providence founded a sister school in West Dallas - a small, low-income area just across the Trinity River from downtown. West Dallas Community School is designed to basically function just like Providence, providing students with a high-quality, Christ-centered education; but instead of paying the high tuition usually associated with private education, parents pay greatly reduced rates while the rest is covered by donations. On the brink of its 20th birthday, West Dallas Community School continues to "provide students with a challenging educational experience designed to help them know, love, and practice that which is true, good, and excellent and to prepare them to live purposefully and intelligently in the service of God and man." I also have many deep personal connections to the school as my third grade teacher, Kathy Stewart, just stepped down as the school's headmaster, and my sister is also one of the art teachers there.
