Frederick Douglass Academy is that New York rarity: a public school where some of the city's most disadvantaged students receive a fine education. Images of Frederick Douglass, painted by students, permeate every floor -- a constant reminder to students that their opportunity came from the accomplishments of their ancestors. It is a traditional school requiring uniforms, and its strict approach to discipline may not suit every parent's taste. At the same time, the school sees the vast majority of its graduates off to college, including Ivy League universities where most kids earn scholarships. The school, known as FDA, has been so successful that it has spawned a number of copycats: At last count, there were three other Frederick Douglass Academies in the city.

The school, which is exempted from the city's standard curriculum, takes a dim view of failure to obey rules. Students who are disrespectful to teachers, who fail to complete homework or who arrive late to class more than three times in a marking period can all expect detention.

The course of study is rigorous. Kids receive enough homework and projects to keep them in the building until 7 p.m. on weekdays. The school is open on Saturday for students to receive additional help and services. In social studies classes teachers ask such sophisticated questions as: "how did feudalism shape medieval society?" Students are required to take four years of science and a foreign language, such as Japanese, double the state requirement. Advanced Placement classes are offered in a number of subjects, including biology, chemistry and physics, and the school has a separate lab for each of these sciences. "We try to give our kids everything they would have if they had went to Stuyvesant," says Hodge.

Principal Gregory Hodge, a no-nonsense fellow who was raised in poverty and harsh circumstances, is very familiar with the difficulties facing many of his students. He is particularly sensitive to the problems confronting African American boys and has worked to boost the percentage of male students at FDA, which initially had had a largely female population. Thanks in part to a project he launched to recruit District 5 boys into a special summer preparatory program, Hodge has been able to achieve an almost 50/50 gender balance.

Dedicated teachers, graduates of such distinguished schools as Rice University, play a huge role, too. One history teacher, unhappy with textbooks that had insufficient recognition of African Americans, searched out donations for textbooks focused on the black experience in America.

FDA excels in college counseling, able to garner approximately $2.5 million in scholarships a year and regularly has as many as five students picked for scholarships from the Posse Foundation, which sends young people to top universities. Students start preparation for college entrance exams in middle school and have resumes and biographies completed by the 11^th grade.

The school offers an array of extracurricular activities, including a small recording studio for budding rappers and a leading boys-- and girls-- basketball. Music and art are mandatory subjects in the middle school. So is the growing dance department, and we were impressed by the skill and focus shown by some boy beginners in one particularly creative piece of choreography. The school sends kids on treks to other countries every year, with trips to Japan sponsored by a Japanese airline that was impressed by that 400 African American students were learning Japanese. (Jacquie Wayans, November 2003. This school is featured in NYC's Best Public Middle Schools and NYC's Best Public High Schools: A Parent's Guide.)

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"My overall experience at FDA was good, but ... socially, the school has a lot of maturing to do. Many students are apathetic," writes Alexandra, who graduated in 2006. (September 2006)

Shante Myers-Royal, a member of the school's second graduating class in 1994 who is now studying to be a stockbroker, writes, "I would not be who I am today without FDA. This school taught me that a little black girl from Harlem could be who ever she wanted to be and never had to be limited because of the color of her skin." (December 2005)

A student writes: "FDA is a great school, and although us students get frustrated with the tough rules and hard work, we realize it is only for our best interest. We can tell that they really care about our future, and want us to succeed." (May 2005)

A parent writes that although she does "believe FDA was good for my daughter for junior high school," she was disappointed to learn at open school night that the high school classrooms are severely overcrowded. (November 2004)

"I disagree with one of your downsides," writes a teacher. "I do not believe that strict discipline is a downside. It reflects the culture of the population we teach. To say it is a downside is to say the culture of the population we teach is a downside. You cannot use one cultural norm or frame of reference to rate another culture." (September 2004)

"FDA is a good school it helps me a lot," writes Jaren F., a student. "Although sometimes we (the students) get a bit rowdy with the deans and the teachers, we know that they are here to help us and get us to college." (August 2004)

"I just wanted to say that FDA is a great high school," writes a 2000 graduate. "They prepare us well for the future and they never give up on their students." (April 2004)

Dirk Dominick writes that he began his teaching career at FDA and "can now compare my experience at FDA with three other schools in which I have taught, public and private, all with excellent reading and math results on any test." He writes that at FDA teachers and the principal "are committed and care for their students; they also cared for me when I was there, offered advice and encouragement." (January 2004)

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