Dr. Terrance Alexander is a big supporter of public schools, but don’t ask him to go back to teaching in one.
Alexander, a former teacher in the McComb Public Schools, now heads the Jubilee Performing Arts Center on Main Street, where he also teaches.
Located in the old J.C. Penney Building on Main Street, the private school, with grades kindergarten through 12, attracts students who concentrate on the arts for part of the day.
But they also are required to take a rigid academic regimen, including advanced English and Spanish.
To graduate they must be bilingual, according to Alexander.
Speaking to the McComb Rotary Club Wednesday, he said, in answer to a question, that comparing his school to a public school is like trying to compare a glass of orange juice and a glass of apple juice. You can’t.
Public schools, he pointed out, are required to accept all who are eligible to attend, including those with discipline problems. Also, the class sizes are larger in public schools, and teachers, especially the good ones, often become stressed.
Alexander, in his mid-30s, said he suffered a stroke when he taught at McComb.
The performing arts school, he said, limits the student-to-teacher ratio to about 13, requires students to maintain a C average and has no discipline problems.
“If you don’t abide by the culture, you have to find another culture to go to,” he said.
The school is funded by tuition and donations. In the early years it was financially stressed, but now, according to Alexander, it’s meeting payroll and other obligations on time.
He credited the turn around to “prayer, work and financial planning.”
The Penney’s building was easily adapted to the needs of the school, which now has 140 students and a faculty of about 15, he said.
