New meaning to school colors

LAWRENCE - When the educators running Lawrence High School created a mandatory color-coded dress code based on students' prime area of study, it was meant to foster team spirit and pride.

But for the students reporting for the first day of classes yesterday, it was all about the fashion.

"Man, it's not cool. It's all weird and stuff," said senior Xavier Garcia, 18, who was wearing the charcoal polo shirt that business students must wear with khaki pants or skirts.

On the other hand, Dileydi Henriquez, a 16-year-old junior wearing the burgundy polo assigned to art students, was relieved because she didn't have to spend a ton of time in the morning figuring out what to wear.

"It used to take me an hour and a half. I used to wake up mad early," Henriquez said. Yesterday, however, "It took me five or ten minutes or so to get dressed."

Since last year, Lawrence High School has been divided into six separate schools: business management and finance; health and human services; humanities and leadership development; international; math, science, and technology; and performing and fine arts. Under the new dress code, students must wear the color of their school year-round.

"It's unusual," said Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy, who launched the six schools within one as part of his educational overhaul effort for city schools. "But all the research that supports uniforms shows that it creates team spirit, it creates identity, it creates collaboration."

The different-color uniforms, said Laboy, not only help create identities for the new schools, but also help faculty and staff keep track of the 3,000 or so students in the just-completed $110 million high school.

Laboy said the reaction from parents has been mainly positive, especially among those from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where school uniforms are more common.

As juniors and senior reported to the new building yesterday, they marveled at the high ceilings and the state-of-the-art classrooms. But the talk of the day, at least in the early hours, was about the new uniforms. Some students called the shirts ugly, while others gave their grudging approval.

Heidi P. Guarino, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, said the state does not keep track of districts' uniform policies, because such matters are local decisions. But she said she had not heard of any other high school establishing different color-coded schools.

Laboy said a group of national educators will visit Lawrence this year to see how the new policies are working. "The days of the all-encompassing, comprehensive high school are over," Laboy said. "Urban school districts have to think outside the box for the sake of student achievement."

School Committee member Greg Morris, who spearheaded the uniform policy, said the committee will tweak the rules, based on comments from parents and staff, to allow for more flexibility. Last month, for example, the committee eased the rules to let students wear different shades of their required color.

The shirts, which must be accompanied by khaki pants or skirt in all the schools, cost $8 to $15 and can be purchased through three stores in Lawrence. Each garment bears the name of the school, as well as the acronym of the area of study.

Last week, the shops were packed with high school students racing to buy the required clothing. "They are so ugly!" yelled junior Cassandra Abou-Farah, 16, seeing the shirts for the first time at Allante Fashions.

Then she relented: "I guess I can live with it."

Russell Contreras can be reached at rcontreras@globe.com.