Charter school settling into Hopkins

At other high schools, the sounds of lockers slamming, bells ringing and students' chatter in the halls are mundane rhythms.

But as administrator Heather Mansour navigated the main hallway at Ubah Medical Academy's new location in Hopkins last week, she said those sounds are signs of progress.

Two sophomores agreed.

"It's better," 16-year-old Nuha Ali said about the school's new home. "Now we've got space and lockers."There are no more little kids running around," added 15-year-old Nasra Omar.

This summer, Ubah Medical Academy moved from a warehouse in North Minneapolis to the former Katherine Curren Elementary School building in Hopkins. The 270-student charter high school had shared the Minneapolis site with an elementary and middle school for three years.

Blending academics and culture

More than 90 percent of the Ubah students in grades 9-12 are the children of East African immigrants. Ubah emphasizes math and science education and incorporates East African culture into its curriculum. But the school accepts students from all backgrounds.

"There's no one here teasing the girls because their hair is covered or because they want five minutes to pray," said Mansour, the school's co-director for academics.

The Hopkins school board approved Ubah's lease last spring. Hopkins closed Katherine Curren at the end of the previous school year because of enrollment declines.

Mansour, a former St. Paul School District teacher, has worked at the charter high school since it was founded by members of Minneapolis' East African Community in 2004 with 120 students. Since then, it's added between 30 and 70 students each year.

"Our students are motivated, and they truly understand that education is their ticket in this country," Mansour said.

Students Ali and Omar said the blend of academics and culture attracted their families to the school. At Ubah, students can study Arabic and the cafeteria offers a halal menu of foods that meet Islamic dietary laws.

The move to Hopkins also means the school has more science labs, a playground and more space for library books. Last week, the labs and the library were still works in progress -- students helped shelve books -- but Mansour said they'll be open within a few weeks.

A variety of needs

Last May, Ubah celebrated the graduation of its first senior class, of 21 students, in a commencement ceremony at Century College. The class had earned more than $900,000 in scholarships, Mansour said. Seventeen of the graduates are attending college this fall.

But Mansour said there's no time for students and school officials to rest on past accomplishments.

Last year, Ubah students in the low-income, black and limited English proficiency subgroups did not meet federal "adequate yearly progress" goals, as measured by state standardized tests, in reading and math.

The contrasting realities students at the school face were visible in two classes -- a self-contained, multi-grade English language learner (ELL) classroom taught by Gretchen Lund, and a writing-for-publication course taught by Heather Megarry.

Many of Lund's students moved to the country less than three years ago. Last week, they completed a language arts lesson about nouns. "Remember, everything you can touch is a noun," Lund said.

That same afternoon, in Megarry's classroom, students interviewed Ubah's co-directors, Mansour and Musa Farah, for an article they were writing about a mandatory, extended-day enrichment program the school will implement this fall.

Omar and Ali participated in the interview with the co-directors. Like many in the writing class, both girls receive little or no ELL instruction and plan to attend college.

The road ahead

"We face the same requirements [for all of our students] as students who have been here their entire lives," Mansour said. "But we don't want to use that as an excuse."

A key element of Ubah's enrichment program is extending the school day for all students by two hours twice a week. They'll receive extra help in their core subjects.

"Every student can benefit from this," Farah said. "It's not a mission of one exam."

The veteran educator moved to Minnesota from Dubai to become co-director of Ubah this year. He had taught at the university level in the United Arab Emirates.

"Everybody is making a commitment," he said. "We believe our students can perform."

Patrice Relerford • 612-673-4395