David
Kentucky
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The David School
In a region, where the public school dropout rates exceeds the national rate and where more than 50 percent of the adult population are dropouts, there must be some success stories. One is The David School, a multi-faceted educational network that attempts to address some of the educational and social problems of the area.
Founded in 1974 in a deteriorating building in a nearly abandoned coal mining community, the school has grown to provide services to preschoolers, at-risk teens, and adults who are either illiterate or in need of GED instruction. In its quarter century, the high school has enrolled close to 2,000 dropouts and youth that are at high risk of dropping out. Scores have learned to read and several thousand more have studied for the GED in programs led by The David School.
The school is located in the small community of David, from which it takes its name. David was once what is commonly called a "coal camp" in western Floyd County in Kentucky's economically depressed Appalachian region. When deep mining operations ceased, the coal company left the area, and its holdings were eventually bought by the newly formed, community-based David Community Development Corporation. The founders of the school, three individuals concerned about the plight of young dropouts, incorporated the school in the Fall of 1973. They recruited volunteers from around the country and started classes in the two-story, former commissary building in January of 1974. The 10 original students studied academic subjects in the morning and received hands-on vocational experience in the afternoons as they helped to renovate the old building, which, like most structures in the "camps", was not built to last. Over the years, through grants and contributions, the school had also acquired the company's former movie theater to house the vocational program and adult education. A garage/filling station for teaching auto mechanics and to give students business experience, a former scout lodge to accommodate a preschool and two dwellings to house teachers were also acquired.
Founded in 1974 in a deteriorating building in a nearly abandoned coal mining community, the school has grown to provide services to preschoolers, at-risk teens, and adults who are either illiterate or in need of GED instruction. In its quarter century, the high school has enrolled close to 2,000 dropouts and youth that are at high risk of dropping out. Scores have learned to read and several thousand more have studied for the GED in programs led by The David School.
The school is located in the small community of David, from which it takes its name. David was once what is commonly called a "coal camp" in western Floyd County in Kentucky's economically depressed Appalachian region. When deep mining operations ceased, the coal company left the area, and its holdings were eventually bought by the newly formed, community-based David Community Development Corporation. The founders of the school, three individuals concerned about the plight of young dropouts, incorporated the school in the Fall of 1973. They recruited volunteers from around the country and started classes in the two-story, former commissary building in January of 1974. The 10 original students studied academic subjects in the morning and received hands-on vocational experience in the afternoons as they helped to renovate the old building, which, like most structures in the "camps", was not built to last. Over the years, through grants and contributions, the school had also acquired the company's former movie theater to house the vocational program and adult education. A garage/filling station for teaching auto mechanics and to give students business experience, a former scout lodge to accommodate a preschool and two dwellings to house teachers were also acquired.