Practically living on the streets because of a bad situation at home, Andrew Brice needed help. He could have done worse than sneak into a sports practice at St. Benedicts where the motto is "Whatever Hurts My Brother Hurts Me." That was two years ago. He's been there ever since, studying hard and hoping for the chance to become a dancer someday and graduate from a unique school in Newark, N.J., where he's getting more support from his fellow students than he ever got at home or foster care. Scott Pelley reports on the special Catholic Prep School in Newark where the students take charge of the school and their fellow pupils on the next edition of 60 MINUTES Sunday, March 20 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
Brice was sleeping on streets when he slipped into the school's natatorium one Friday where water polo practice was going on. He told the coach he need help and the school he attended wasn't giving him any. What did the coach tell him? "Monday you should be in school," Brice remembers. Brice now lives on the grounds of the monastery adjacent to the school and is getting an education along with the rest of the more than 500 students who whose race and religion reflect the inner city neighborhood it's located in. That's part of the school's DNA since 1967, when racial tensions and a famous riot caused white flight. Benedictine Monk Edwin Leahy has been associated with the school for most of six decades as student, teacher and now the headmaster of St. Benedicts. At the core of the school's idea is empowering kids, many of whom had no control over their lives. They make decisions on activities and rules. And if they make bad decisions, "That's a better learning experience for them. The rule typically is if you're going to make a decision without adult advice you had better be right," says Leahy. Watch an excerpt.Videos