Dress Code Begins In Newark

When Zakkiya Razzaq, the principal of Cleveland School in Newark surveyed the number of pupils wearing uniforms Monday, she was pleased with the final tally.
Only 22 of her 377 students were not wearing the mandated uniform selected by the school. Not bad, considering yesterday was the first day that Newark's 30,000 elementary school pupils were expected to wear their uniforms.

But Razzaq said the school can do better and asked the parent liaison to find out why 22 students did not have their uniforms.
'I expected it (to be high), be cause the children have been wearing the uniforms,' said Razzaq. 'Parents understand it's a mandated policy.'
Indeed, parents have received ample warning in the district about the uniform policy. Introduced three months ago, the policy gave parents a grace period to purchase uniforms that were selected by the principals, staff and parent groups at each school. Although there are no penalties against students who do not wear uniforms, the district has waged an aggressive publicity campaign to spread the word about the dress code.
Educators favor uniforms be cause they say they reduce the peer pressure students encounter when it comes to fashion, thereby allowing them to focus more on lessons in the classroom.
The district plans to implement the dress code for secondary school students during the 2009 school year. Officials did not have a districtwide tally of how many students complied with the policy yesterday.
For some students, the standard wardrobe gives them less to fuss about in the mornings, and less to worry about in their classes.
'I like it because you don't have to worry about people talking about how much your clothes are or how expensive they are,' said Al deen McKinnis, 11, a fifth-grader at Cleveland School.
Imani Smith, banded bottom dress 10, also a fifth- grader at Cleveland School, said she likes the uniforms because they send a potent message. Cleveland's uniforms consist of yellow polo shirts and navy blue slacks or skirts.
'It's a chance to tell people we're children, and body con dress we don't look like the outside kids who have dropped out of school,' she said.
Over at Hawthorne Avenue School, Principal LaShawn Gibson- Burney said roughly 85 percent of the students wore uniforms to school yesterday. Students there have been wearing uniforms since the start of the school year.
Gibson-Burney said the 85 percent compliance rate was about standard for the school.
'Some people were against it, some people said they couldn't afford it,' Gibson-Burney said. 'Some said they didn't want to wear them.'
Some parents, though, were just not aware that they had to dress their kids in uniform Monday.
Quamare Johnson, the mother of a kindergartner at Roseville Avenue School, said she thought she had until January to buy her son Kawan Allen Jr. a uniform. Monday she was on her way to buy one.
Although Johnson supports the uniforms, she said there are also some negatives to consider.
'Some people can't afford it,' she said. 'Then you have to worry about keeping it clean.'
Some community groups and churches have pitched in to help students acquire uniforms.
Deneen Washington, principal of the Maple Avenue Schoolestimated about 97 percent of her students were dressed in their burgundygray uniforms yesterday. Students at that school have been wearing uniforms since the beginning of the school year.
'The behavior has improved be cause students are much more focused on their learning versus their social interaction,' Washington said. 'They have higher expecta tions for themselves because they look a certain way.'



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