SOUTH-CENTRAL : Private School Tries to Fill Education Gap

When Sanubo Toeque moved to the United States from Liberia about 20 years ago, he brought with him an idea that would link this country with his: education.

Toeque (pronounced, TOH-kwee), founder of the Toeque Technical Christian Academy, wanted to create a private institution to prepare inner-city children for college, modeled after the schools in Liberia, where curricula are strict.

The academy, in a former medical building at 5944 S. Avalon Blvd., offers computer programming, Spanish classes that begin in the first grade, and journalism, economics, electrical drafting and advanced biology for older students. African studies course are taught in the grades seven through 12.

Of the five graduating classes from the small, 11-year-old academy, all 25 students have gone on to a college or community college.

“The whole idea was to have a base here and start a program in Liberia, so that we could have a student-exchange program,” said Toeque, 49.

But before Toeque’s dream could be realized, political instability in Liberia stalled the idea, which he had entertained even while an undergraduate student.

He studied at New York’s Bronx Community College and later at Pepperdine University, obtaining degrees in physical science and mathematics.

“I believe the problem in South-Central is that there’s an educational gap from school to school, especially in areas of mathematics and science,” said Toeque, who earned his master’s in education at Cal State Dominguez Hills and teaches mathematics classes at Drew University.

The academy, which has applied for accreditation from the Colorado-based Assn. of Christian Schools International, has a paid teaching staff of just three, plus three or four volunteers on any given day. Toeque’s wife Mona, 38, another Pepperdine graduate, assists as a teacher, and his 75-year-old father, James, helps with after-school child care.

The school, which has $20,000 in monthly expenditures, struggles to survive--its only income coming from tuition of $225 per month for children in kindergarten through sixth grade and $250 per month for seventh through 12th grades.

Still, Toeque has built an eight-cubicle computer lab and even converted a closet into a chemistry lab.

Classrooms can hold as many as 20 students per class, although the entire K-12 enrollment is just 30.

Nevertheless, local parents who send their children to the academy measure Toeque’s success by their children’s success.

Patricia Wash enrolled her son, Patrick, in the academy after his grades fell so low that he was asked to leave his previous school as a sophomore. She said Toeque’s efforts may have saved Patrick from a path that would have led him to the streets.

“Mr. Toeque and the staff took a lot of time with him, time that most big schools don’t have,” said Wash, whose son went on to Harbor College.

“Upon graduation, (Patrick) told Mr. Toeque, ‘Thank you for guiding my behind in the right direction.’ ”