“A masterfully written, nail-biter of a book. Saving the School illuminates today’s high stakes education debates like no other work. A must-read for anyone who cares about the education of our nation's kids.”

—Dave Isay, Founder of StoryCorps

“Saving the School is an amazing piece of reporting. Michael Brick has burrowed deep inside a failing American high school to write a dramatic, first-hand account of what it took to rescue it. Where most writing about education rests on statistics and policy-speak, this one probes the lives of the school’s remarkable principal, a teacher on the front lines, coaches, and several students. It’s a fascinating, real-time look at American education.”

—S. C. Gwynne, author of Empire of the Summer Moon

“Every day, in schools across America, a war is being fought for the hearts and minds of children in at-risk communities. We can choose to retreat from the front lines, or turn around and discover what the battle for our future looks and tastes and feels like. Read the first few pages of Michael Brick’s book. You won't have a choice anymore. You’re in the trenches.”

—Gary Smith, author of Sports Illustrated: Going Deep

When Anabel Garza took over as principal of John H. Reagan High School in 2008, the once-illustrious Austin, Texas school was on the brink of closure. Students were failing standardized tests, failing on the basketball court, failing to even show up. Make-up days were scheduled for time disrupted not by blizzards but by brawls. Over one-hundred of Reagan’s students were “parenting teens.”  And the only national publicity Reagan attracted in the years since its football team was named national champions back in the 1960s was for a fatal on-campus stabbing in 2003.

After Reagan was classified as “academically unacceptable” for the fourth consecutive year, the message handed to Garza was clear: She had one year to improve test scores and raise attendance or the school would be shuttered. 

In SAVING THE SCHOOL: The True Story of a Principal, a Teacher, a Coach, a Bunch of Kids, and a Year in the Crosshairs of Education Reform (The Penguin Press; Publication date August 20, 2012), former New York Times reporter Michael Brick recounts the moving story of how a few dedicated educators inspired a school to accomplish the impossible.

Reagan’s indomitable leader, Anabel Garza, was an unlikely candidate for principal. Pregnant and alone at 16, widowed by 25, Garza’s life was marked by hardships familiar to many in Reagan’s student body. But using an unconventional tough-love approach, Garza began making changes: she fired ten teachers, scoured the mall herself for truants, and set up personalized after-hours tutoring for standardized tests. She and her staff relentlessly pushed students to live up to higher expectations while constantly reminding them that their school was there to support them.  And through Garza’s mix of love and motivations, the miraculous happened.  A sense of pride and hope was rekindled in both the school and the community, test scores improved, the bleachers at basketball games were packed again.

This page-turning, come-from-behind story is deftly told by Brick, a seasoned reporter with the ability to burrow deep inside the trenches of a divisive issue playing out in public schools across the country: What does it take to fix a broken system? By bringing us inside the day-to-day struggles of the do-or-die year for Reagan, Brick has put a human face on the policy debate, and given us an intimate portrait of how a group of educators, coaches, and students can unite to save their future.   

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michael Brick, 38, a former reporter and sportswriter for The New York Times, wrote feature stories for the newspaper from Alaska to Mexico, but mostly Brooklyn. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Stacy, and their children.