Schools for Diversity

As classes begin at Sierra Canyon School next week, Howard Wang’s past frustrations about recruiting minority students will be tempered by a few good signs.

Wang, the school’s founding co-director, said the number of black students is increasing slowly, although the number of Latino students still lags. Attracting bright youths by appealing to parents, churches and community groups, and offering tuition assistance, all seem to be working, he said.

“We like to see as nice a mix as we possibly can,” said Wang, whose 660-student enrollment is about 70% white. “If they’re not experiencing [school] with kids of different backgrounds, they’re missing something.”

Across the country, private independent schools have been wrestling with how best to attract minorities at a time when enrollment figures for students of color are largely flat.

Although blacks and Latinos are seeking private and parochial schools in greater numbers than ever, many elite academic institutions are still searching for students of color--even when they remove financial barriers.

The reasons are complex.

Some school administrators have limited recruiting experience. Some families don’t know about the existence of the schools, many of which are in suburban, mostly white communities. And many parents still shy away from them because they don’t want their children to be one of the few minority students in a predominantly white institution.

Wang and his founding co-director, Mick Horwitz, acknowledged that the gains they’ve seen are modest.

The school, with students in kindergarten through grade eight, in recent years has seen three or four new black students a year. This year, with classes set to begin Sept. 8, it looks like there may be seven or eight.

“It’s just a slight trend,” Horwitz said.

According to the National Assn. of Independent Schools in Washington, D.C., students of color comprise about 16% of the students in the country’s estimated 1,000 private schools, one-quarter of which are parochial schools. Among those minority students, 42% are Asian; 30% are African American, and 15% are Latino.

A decade ago, minorities made up 11.2% of private school students. But educators say the 10-year increase--less than half a percentage point a year--isn’t enough.

At Viewpoint School in Calabasas, efforts to attract a mix of students include a minority admission program funded through foundations. Each year, the program covers about $12,000 for tuition and books for each of four high school students.

Also, the school, which has 635 students in kindergarten through grade 12, provides financial aid. The philosophy at Viewpoint, where enrollment is about 80% white, is to push for more students with varied backgrounds.

“We look to continue to increase our diversity,” said Kristin Dworkoski, director of admission and financial aid for Viewpoint, which starts classes today. “Our ultimate goal is to reflect greater society.”

Parents, educators and the students themselves appreciate the lessons available through more ethnic, economic and religious diversity, she said.

“I don’t believe any conscientious parent wants to shelter their child and not prepare them for the real world,” she said. “The direct effort we’re making now may be reflected in the numbers a few years from now.”

Changing demographics are bound to play a part as well. More minorities are entering the middle and upper-middle classes and moving to the suburbs, where many of the schools are located.

But recruiters and other school administrators said that also means that minority parents are becoming choosier, which makes recruitment more challenging. More parents are asking tough questions about the number of minority students and teachers at the schools, they said.

Professionals who coordinate recruitment programs said that informal soliciting is not enough; schools must be more sophisticated to tap the pool of black and Latino students.

Many recruiters follow the example set by programs like A Better Chance, a Boston-based program that helps send minority students to elite private schools.

Created in 1963 by the headmasters at several private Northeastern schools, A Better Chance finds many of its prospective junior high and high school students in public and private elementary schools, churches and civic organizations, as well as its extensive network of alumni.

While some private schools rely on A Better Chance and the L.A.-based Independent School Alliance for Minority Affairs to boost their minority enrollment, others are also making a point of hiring minority teachers, adopting multicultural curricula, and organizing parents to spread the word.

More minority families need to know that the schools even exist, recruiters say. And then, they need to know that financial assistance may be available.

Still, even when a good academic match is made between a school and a student, and financial aid is secured, the road time often remains an issue. Some schools, like Sierra Canyon and Viewpoint, have far fewer black and Latino students than schools closer to the central city. The Pilgrim School in Mid-Wilshire, for example, requires only a short bus ride for many minority students and is one of the most diverse private schools in the nation.

Oakwood School in North Hollywood has provided a van--with parents sharing the driver’s salary--for a few minority students who commute from Inglewood.

Indeed, many parents feel obligated to drive thousands of miles a year to give their children a leg up academically.

For the past few years, Debra and Donald Cook have driven their son Barrington, 8, to the Landwest School (known as Landmark prior to this summer) in Encino, and his brother Donald Jr., 13, to Sierra Canyon from their home in Leimert Park.

Both boys attended Sierra Canyon for one year. With the help of Sierra administrators, the Cooks transferred Barrington to Landwest--which specializes in students with learning disabilities--so he could get help for dyslexia.

“When we were here at inner-city schools I would walk around near the schools and find crack near the sidewalk,” said Donald Cook, pastor of a South Los Angeles church. “It’s a different world where the boys go now. It’s well worth the drive.”