Taking the Child out of the Ghetto

Quadidra Taylor, then a 10th grader, studied for exams in her dorm room in June. Photo by Stephanie Sinclair/VII.

In the Southeast section of Washington, a public boarding school sits on four compact acres, enclosed by an eight-foot-high black metal fence. Behind the fence, the modern buildings of the SEED School are well scrubbed and soaked in prep-school culture. Pennants from Dartmouth, Swarthmore and Spelman decorate the hallways. Words that might appear on the next SAT — “daedal,” “holus-bolus,” “calamari” — are taped to bathroom and dorm walls. And inside the cafeteria hang 11-by-15-inch framed photos of SEED grads in caps and gowns, laughing, clutching diplomas. More

Who is Valerie Jarrett?

Barack and Michelle Obama horse around in front of Valerie Jarrett. Photo by Pete Souza

VALERIE JARRETT was never one for timid choices. “Put yourself in the path of lightning,” her mother used to tell her. So when historian John Hope Franklin visited her junior high school in the late 1960s and glowingly described a university surrounded by verdant hills and dotted with palm trees, Jarrett decided then and there that she would attend Stanford. In the fall of 1974, having never seen the place, she arrived on the Farm and began what she calls “the best four years of my life.” More