Second to None

“Second to None; The Legend of Stanton Elementary” is a photojournalistic presentation by Clary Estes. The story shares the emotionally charged moments captured during her month-long examination of Stanton Elementary. Deemed a ‘turnaround’ school in Washington, D.C.’s, Anacostia neighborhood, Stanton was the second worst performing school in the district in 2009. To remedy this problem, a very large majority of the staff was fired and replaced with new enthusiastic teachers who have worked to get the students up to grade level and turn the school around. The school has partnered with the, D.C., Scholars charter program and is a testing ground for its model. Throughout the project it becomes more and more clear that the teachers are committed and invested in their students who are very bright and have a great deal of potential. The students are now more focused on their academics and driven to go to college.