All hail Eric Mahmoud, his staff, students and parents at Harvest Preparatory School for their stunning academic achievements, despite all the odds ("At this school, usual excuses don't apply," Katherine Kersten, Sept. 25).
At its core, Harvest Prep inculcates in its students an ethical sensibility that encourages the virtues of self-discipline, integrity, service to others, and an unrelenting belief in the good that comes from adherence to those virtues.
Of course, parents play a vital role in encouraging their children to adhere to the tenets of the school. Regrettably, our public schools have cleansed themselves of all morality, aside from the universal dictum of "tolerance."
Young and old alike don't respond to the lowest common denominator. All of us need to be reminded over and over that we must live our lives in service to the greatest values of mankind.
If only our public schools could find their way back to a curriculum rooted in those values, insisting that each student strive to achieve.
The story is repeated all over this great nation: Schools with firm moral dimensions and rigorous standards are able to summon the most from their students.
Unless and until our public schools recognize this and demand so much more from our children, we will continue to send nearly one in every two kids into a world for which they are completely unprepared.
MARK H. REED, PLYMOUTH
