Lincoln-Bassett Is A Family Affair

You can really tell the character of a school by its graduation exercise.

And that’s why the award Emily Contreras Lopez received for class participation and Karyssa Twigg’s special vice principal’s recognition for respectfulness and being an all-round kind person to both teachers and ​“her fellow students even when they’re annoying” received loud applause, hoots, and whistles of approval.

That was the loving family scene – the character of the school – at Friday morning’s flower and balloon-filled celebration of the 6^th Grade Graduation at the Lincoln-Bassett Community School on Bassett Street in Newhallville.

As 46 sixth graders recited poems (“The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman) and sang songs (“Lift Every Voice and Sing”) and collected their diplomas, pausing, each one of them, to be photographed, family members snapped pictures, called ​“go girl,” and a whole range of other encomiums and words of encouragement.

Most of all, everyone waited to gather, hug each other, and put in the flesh of an embrace the feeling central to speakers’ remarks: that Lincoln-Basset and its Soaring Eagles will be a place you can always come home to.

“I know every teacher and staffer’s phone number,” said Travenia Smith, whose daughter Serenity, became a graduate and is moving on to the Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School.

And Travenia should know. 

She herself is a graduate of Lincoln-Bassett as is her mom, Serenity’s grandmother Tori McClain, who lives two blocks from the school and recalls fondly walking there every day.

No, wait, we’re not done yet with the family feeling and the Lincoln-Basset community genealogy: 

Tori’s mom Karen McClain also is a graduate of Lincoln-Bassett, making her not only Serenity’s great grandmother but the first of four generations of graduates.

And all of them (with the exception of Karen), along with Serenity’s proud dad Ted Smith, sisters, and cousins and aunties and godmothers, 20 strong were taking pictures with Serenity on the sun-filled steps in front of the school and deciding where to go to lunch to celebrate.

Travenia has another Lincoln-Bassett graduate, a 16-year old doing very well at ESUMS, but she avers there is just an undeniable difference between a magnet school and a community school like Lincoln-Bassett.

“We literally know all the staff here by first name, and they were particularly good during the pandemic,” she added.

That made a huge difference too for the family of graduate Lyrica Lathrop, who also was battling illness this year, and staff made sure she had the right computer and was getting all the assignments so she could finish and graduate with her colleagues.

Applauding her after the ceremonies were her dad William Lathrop, a former member of the PTO, and sister J’yahni Lathrop, now a 16-year-old at Hillhouse. William has another child, a son Anthony and, yes, also a Lincoln-Bassett graduate, who was not able to attend because he is serving in the U.S. Army.

While Hillhouse is fine for her, Lyrica’s sister J’yahni remembered how much she ​“loved this place. My heart is in this school.”

The principal Rosalind Garcia and vice principal Eva Schultz hit these same themes in their valedictories to their students and in a pre-ceremony chat with this reporter (full disclosure: the emotional high point of this reporter’s K‑12 experience was sixth grade at Carthay Center School in L.A. and I adore graduations of any kind!)

“The challenges the kids face in life are not left at home, they come through this door. This is part of their support system,” said Schultz, who’s been at the school for two years.

“Here there’s such a community feeling,” said Garcia who’s been helming the school for five years. ​“We connect with all the kids. 

The total 256-child enrollment, relatively quite small for a pre‑K through 6^th grade school, helps make this possible. 

“Everybody has buy-in here,” Garcia continued, ​“the cafeteria staff make cookies and pizza with the kids, especially on special days. The kids work with custodial staff in helping out too. The kids are invested here.”

“They want to be here,” said Schutz and that’s why, in part, the school’s chronic absenteeism rate — possibly the greatest challenge district-wide — has gone down by the most recent measure at Lincoln-Bassett by ten percent.

The keynote speaker was a teary-eyed kindergarten teacher, Jennifer Kay. She recalled how challenged she was during the pandemic to be asked, after 11 years teaching kindergarten, to teach third grade, and online.

“I was scared but then I realized these were my kids from kindergarten and we navigated Google Meet and how to manage your cat when it jumped on the keyboard. I’m so glad to see you grow, to have become mathematicians and readers and now you’ve grown into great young adults. I’m so proud of you, and can’t wait to see you soar.”