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Mary and William Cunningham have three children. Eric attends Sacred Heart Catholic Elementary School through the A+ Opportunity Scholarship Program. The other two children are grown. They attended Pensacola Public Schools.
The Cunninghams have a modest income and could not afford to make choices when their oldest children were in school. But that changed when the A+ program was created.
Eric was a student at Spencer Bibbs Public Elementary School when it received an F grade from the state, thus allowing children in the district to qualify for an A+ scholarship to pick their school of choice.
"I didn’t feel like Spencer Bibbs was the type of environment Eric needed to be in. I felt Eric needed to be in a better atmosphere, " Mary said.
"We felt Sacred Heart had a good history. We felt it had a lot of positive philosophies, beliefs."
While the Cunninghams are Islamic, Mary says they have never felt any pressure by the Catholic school to convert or change their faith. "Eric’s getting exposure to other cultures. The school is more diverse than Spencer Bibbs."
"Since my son has been at Sacred Heart, everyone there has been very positive. They are consistent in what they believe and what they teach," she said.
"He’s doing very good academically. I can tell by his progress reports, and his attitude towards doing homework and going to school. He doesn’t complain about the classroom and what the other students are doing."
"Since my son was a baby my husband and I discussed our hopes for his future. We’ve always talked about his future, his successes. Our role is helping him achieve his goal. Education is something we’ve always stressed," she said.
"This scholarship is what Eric needs. It’s helping him to be positive. It’s helping him to set goals."
"We’re not willing to accept anything less for him."
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