cross roads school
santa monica, california
bob riddle, head of school 

CROSSROADS SCHOOL WAS FOUNDED UPON FIVE BASIC commitments: to academic excellence; to the arts; to the greater community; to the development of a student population of social, economic, and racial diversity; and to the development of each student's physical well being and full human potential.

It is the goal of Crossroads School to provide a strong college preparatory program from which each student will develop a personal commitment to learning, a respect for independent thinking, and an expanding curiosity about the world and its people. We consider certain skills to be essential for all graduates: to read well, to write clearly and coherently, to study effectively, to reason soundly, and to question thoughtfully.

Through the educational process, we assist students to gain self-esteem, self-knowledge, and respect for the knowledge and opinions of others. We believe that education must not be a race for the accumulation of facts, but should be an enriching end in itself. We also believe that education is a joint venture among students, parents and teachers. To be effective with young people, teachers and parents must themselves continue to learn, so that they may perceive the young accurately and treat them wisely.

We believe that the arts are an essential part of the curriculum and that it is important for students to express themselves creatively and to use their imaginations freely. Therefore, music, drama, visual arts, film, writing, and dance are significant parts of student life at Crossroads.

Through our academic and extra-curricular programs, we seek to promote social, political, and moral understanding, and to instill a respect for the humanity and ecology of the earth.

We understand that there are many kinds of intelligence, and the traditional academic, cognitive area is one. Other important areas of intelligence are intuition, imagination, artistic creativity, physical expression and performance, sensitivity to others, and self-understanding. To neglect any of these areas is to limit students in the development of their full human potential.

We believe that the uniqueness of children is revealed in their very existence and that it is the school's responsibility to foster their innate sense of the mystery and joy of life.

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barrington edwards
visual arts faculty and visual arts chair
boston arts academy
boston, massachutteses 

Barrington Edwards is of Jamaican parentage and the first of his immediate family born in the U.S. Born and raised in Boston Ma. Barrington attended Boston Public Schools and is well acquainted with the system from the perspective of a student. He graduated from Boston Latin Academy in 1990 while it was still housed in the "big yellow monster" at 174 Ipswich St.

He attended Hampton University in Virginia for one year then transferred to the Massachusetts College of Art where he eventually earned both a BFA in Communication Design and a MSAE in Art Education.

He has since worked vigorously in the worlds of art and design, education and community development. Barrington has worked with organizations such as Gang Peace, the Roxbury Multi- Service Center, the Jamaican Progressive Society, Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, the Gallivan Community Center and several others.

He has taught at Cathedral High, McKinley Vocational High, and McKinley Middle schools in addition to several summer programs, including Exploration Intermediate Program at Wellesley College. In 2004 he was awarded a Surdna fellowship and traveled to Japan where he studied Japanese art and animation. In 2009 Mr. Edwards, along with the entire BAA visual arts department, was awarded the Massachusetts College of Art and Design Award for Excellence in Art Education. In addition to being a teacher, Mr. Edwards also works as an educational consultant, and artist and activist in the field of entertainment, promoting new and creative venues for the arts.

Future goals for Barrington include acquiring real estate to develop as affordable working studios, retail space, galleries, and community art programs for artists of the inner city.

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