A “poverty trap” is how Brian Olson describes the often harsh relationship between money and education in the U.S. “In our cities the best determinant of how a kid is going to do in school is the color of his skin and the income of his family,” says Olson, a co-founder of Viking Global Investors. “If you’re poor, you’ll do poorly in school; and if you do poorly in school, you’ll probably be poor.”
The 42-year-old Olson is on a mission to help halt this self-perpetuating cycle. In 2005 he joined the board of George Jackson Academy, a private middle school in New York’s East Village neighborhood that caters to highly inquisitive boys who aren’t getting the public school attention they need. As chairman of the academy’s finance committee, Olson helps it do a lot with very little. The school’s budget is small and its building dates from 1902.
Founded in 2003 by Brother Brian Carty, principal and founder of De La Salle Academy (a private Upper West Side middle school that served as the model), George Jackson was created in response to the increasingly common failure of young boys to connect with learning. The academy was named for a student of Carty’s who went to Harvard University and later became a movie producer and president of Motown Records before dying of a stroke eight years ago at the age of 42.
The curriculum begins at grade four, Olson says, because boys at that age are quite often still naturally excited about education. The school offers a sanctuary for them, both physical and intellectual. “The niche that George Jackson Academy fills,” Olson explains, “is finding smart, talented kids from disadvantaged backgrounds and bringing them to this special place where it’s safe to be smart, where it’s cool to be smart, and they can flourish.” Tuition is about $13,000 a year, but admission is needs-blind and families pay what they can afford.
The school opened to almost 60 fourth and fifth graders. This year the enrollment — which now also includes sixth, seventh and eighth graders — totals 130. The academy has little trouble finding students, fielding nominations from public and parochial school teachers who encourage pupils with a love of learning and reading, high IQ scores and supportive parents to apply. The curriculum is demanding, designed with the next step in mind: acceptance to the best high schools in the city.
In November the academy will celebrate its fifth anniversary by honoring Robert Lessin. A longtime Wall Street executive who is currently vice chairman at investment bank Jefferies & Co., Lessin teaches two business classes every Wednesday at the school.
David Arnold, whose official title is head of school, says he values Olson’s fiscal acumen in keeping the academy running on a shoestring: “If it weren’t for the Brian Olsons of this world, this dream would never have occurred.”
Most funding comes from philanthropists and foundations. The Tiger Foundation, set up by renowned Tiger Management Corp. founder Julian Robertson Jr. to help disadvantaged families, is an important supporter.
Olson, who left Viking in 2005 and is one of the many so-called tiger cubs who worked for Robertson before striking out on his own, praises the students above all. “They’re intellectually curious, poised, very respectful, grateful and dedicated,” he says. “When I visit George Jackson, I wish that I had gone to school there.”
For more information, go to www.gjacademy.org.
