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Eulogist Zack Anderson said Blackwell “had the good fortune to attend Southside Family School, and be taken to protests, learn about real American history, and tour the Deep South on the Civil Rights Trip.” Blackwell said Southside’s teachings stayed with Anderson as he helped create the < a href = “www.southsidefamilyschool.org/vnews/display.v/ART/4252c621ae9df”>Students Association for the Advancement of Children as People and later took care of pit bulls at a southern Minnesota farm.

Like all Southside Elementary students, Blackwell left the school after the eighth grade. Eliza Goodwin, Executive Director of Southside, said it is no surprise when students remain affected long after they leave. “We have a much higher connection allegiance to this elementary school than most,” said Goodwin.

That allegiance could be due to the unique curriculum and how the elementary school operates. Southside bases its curriculum around social justice, while still providing its students with the educational needs for high school. Goodwin says the curriculum educates the children and community about social problems that foster racism, sexism, classism and homophobia.

Founded in 1972, Southside is the only elementary school of its kind in the United States. Goodwin said there are a few schools that focus on social justice, but Southside is the only public school that does so.

The curriculum of Southside attracts staff and interns from all over the country. Kaylord Hill grew up in Louisiana, enrolled in a law program in Chicago, and then moved to Missouri before he was attracted to an internship at Southside. Hill said he wanted “to learn in a way that allowed me to pay attention to a lot of diverse aspects such as social change.”

Besides teaching social justice, Goodwin said Southside’s mission is to provide for families who don’t have access to a proper education, whether due to location or social class.

At Southside students do not pay tuition. The state pays 50 percent of the school’s revenue while private sources provide the rest. About 70 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. The school uses five buses to bring in students from all around Minneapolis. The class sizes never reach beyond 10 students, which allows for extensive one-on-one time with the teachers.

Southside’s staff consists of 10 teachers and an intern. Hill found the Southside internship while going to college in Jackson, Miss. After reading about various internships, the choice to work at Southside was easy. “No other internship touched me internally the way Southside did,” said Hill.

Students may not have to travel as far as Hill, but access to the school can be more difficult. Each year Southside conducts a lottery to determine who will be let into the new kindergarten class. Southside receives more applicants than the classes allow, and the school purposely keeps the size down. “It is safer, the students know everybody, less harassment, and everyone has a shared sense of accountability,” said Goodwin.

Some of the students are accountable for the classes they take each month. Three days a week students are allowed to control part of their education through a club class. Club offerings vary monthly from classes such as physical education and music to Latin America through story and song. With the help of teachers, students get the chance to choose the club that best fits them.

Not only do club offerings change monthly, but Southside uses a dynamic curriculum which is adjusted yearly. Southside offers several field trips based on social and cultural awareness. Every three years students take a civil rights tour through the south that lasts 12 days. During each trip students and teachers log about 3,000 miles on the bus though eight states. The trip educates students on the civil rights movement in the south and provides them with a sense of current southern culture.

Southside students learn on a recent civil rights field trip through the south.

The civil rights trip is offered to students in the sixth through eighth grade. Students in the seventh and eighth grade also receive something younger students do not: letter grades. Both seventh and eighth grade students receive letter grades because they are necessary to get into high school. Rather than graded report cards, younger students receive evaluations from their teachers twice a year. Students are also placed into classes based on specific skill levels rather than age.

Although students are not focused on standardized tests, Goodwin insists they measure up academically to other public elementary schools. Most eighth grade students have passed the reading and math portion of the Minnesota Basic Standard Test. “We teach the same subjects as other schools, we just have a different emphasis,” said Goodwin.

The jump from the tiny socially aware elementary school into an enormous “factory of education” can be difficult, said Goodwin. Students at Southside come from all parts of Minneapolis and many are separated when they enter high school. “Size shock, education change, and a success-based atmosphere can be difficult for a student coming from our school.”

Southside did not become a public school until two years ago. It was formerly a non-profit that was contracted to the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). Southside reported to and received public funds from the MPS. Goodwin said Southside’s relationship with the MPS was becoming tenuous and by becoming an independent school, Southside now receives funding directly from the state.

Getting approval as a public school wasn’t easy. “We’re basically like a car. They wanted to take us apart, look at all the parts, get them approved, and then put it all back the way it was,” Goodwin said.

The only major changes were in the office and not in the classroom. While Goodwin said Southside is always making adjustments to better the school, she doesn’t foresee any major changes in the near future. “If the car isn’t broken why fix it?”