Going Beyond Z

Yuzz, glikk and snee are the some letters of the alphabet that come after the letter "z" if you are Dr. Seuss, read Dr. Seuss or are a scholar affiliated with the Harlem Success Academy (HSA). Well, it's safe to assume that Glo Anderson-Flete is not another pseudonym, for Theodor Geisel. But as you know, I have scholars affiliated with HSA and collectively, we have probably read every Dr. Seuss book ever published, but I'll spare you the grueling details.

This post is less about Dr. Seuss than it is about going beyond Z. Going "Beyond Z" goes to the heart of HSA's school culture. HSA has a philosophy based on the book, On Beyond Zebra!, by you guessed it, Dr. Seuss! As a child, this book introduced the concept of paradigm shifting into my intellectual vocabulary before I even knew what such a thing was! Anyway, I read this book and was forever changed. The concept that our 26 letter alphabet was an arbitrary collection and not a universal constant had never occurred to me. This book sparked an awareness that if I would only try to see beyond the boundaries that were on display... then what?

Dr. Seuss and the Harlem Success Academy has sparked yet another generation of leaders to go On Beyond Zebra!  HSA insists that all of its scholars and their families, experience a paradigm shift that speaks to the infinite possibilities that a quality education can provide. Everyday scholars are encouraged to think outside the box and achieve no less than the mind can conceive and in short, to have a Beyond Z Day!