May 25, 2006 5:22 PM
Pelham Preparatory Academy accomplished its mission with Tatiana Hernandez, a 17-year-old in the small school’s first graduating class: She is college-bound.
“It’s been knocked into our heads since freshman year,” Tatiana says.
She made 10 college trips, including three to the University of Vermont, Columbus’ partner college.
Armed with an 82-percent average and an unusual college essay on Michael Jackson’s redeeming qualities, Tatiana applied to eight places and eventually chose Baruch College, so she could be near her 7-year-old sister.
Pelham, one of the four small schools on the Columbus campus, provided a haven for Tatiana, a reserved student with a strong will to succeed.
“In freshman year, we were all complaining that we had the same classes with the same people,” says Tatiana. “But as we went on, we became so close.”
That intimacy extends to staff.
Tatiana, who had a difficult final year outside school, leaned on Rose Lo Bianco, Pelham’s assistant principal.
“When I have a problem, she’s the first person I tell,” says Tatiana. “I know I have a place to go.”
Lo Bianco said the small school provided a natural support system for students.
“We stay with them as they mature,” she says.