“...A school is a collection of individual stories and individual people, and it somehow finds threads to connect them.” This is how principal Dr. Keyundah (Key) Coleman sees his school, John P. Freeman Optional School. Dr. Coleman, along with the teachers and staff, have been leading The House program guiding students to foster empathy and understanding of community needs. The program revolves around the core P.R.I.D.E. believes that a student should be: Prepared, Respectful, In control, Dependable, and Excellent. Students are divided into groups referred to as “houses” and are given themes that relate to our communities and the houses compete for points and prizes to best represent those themes. The most current theme was “Cultural Identity,” where students, along with their families, were invited to showcase and celebrate their unique cultures. Dr. Coleman then invited the students to try to draw parallels and similarities between the cultures and to try to determine what it means to be a diverse but united community.

“We can’t do it without the parents” Dr. Coleman added. He insisted that the doors of the school are wide open for the parents who have been actively engaged in partnership with the school. The school hosted a “Donuts with Dad” event where 300 fathers showed up, played sports with the students, did line dancing, had breakfast with their kids, and walked them to class. The fathers said that this was the best time they’d had. Now more and more parents are getting involved with an upcoming “Bridgerton High Tea” event organized by the mothers and daughters. 

We’re continuously proud of the work of our amazing principals, staff, and students at MSCS, and we're excited about our growing and crucial collaboration with our MSCS families and community.