When the Debes enrolled their daughter Arya in preschool, they found themselves immersed in a new school system — one that soon felt like an extension of their own family.
Today, those schools are known as University Schools, a public school system located at the University of Memphis.
“Friends of ours who were a little bit older told us about Lipman (now known as Barbara K. Lipman Early Learning and Research Center), and said, ‘This is where you want to go,’” Anu said.
They put Arya on the waiting list as soon as she was born.
The Barbara K. Lipman Early Learning and Research Center is a laboratory preschool affiliated with the University of Memphis, which offers a unique learning environment and a nurturing place that encourages children to explore their own active learning abilities.
“When you’re new parents with your first child, you don’t know what you’re doing, and at the age of three, we didn’t think about an opportunity for preschool … but we needed childcare,” Anu said. “So, we were looking at it as childcare at that point, while we were both working.” Remy Debes is a faculty member at the University of Memphis, and Anu Debes works at a veterinary practice.
When Arya started at then Lipman, the Debes began building a community with other parents. “Some of our best friends in town started off because we were sitting on the bench outside of the preschool with our kids. And these same families went to Campus School,” Anu said.
Even Arya, who will be graduating with the inaugural senior class at University High this May, remembers those days when Campus School hosted Family Gathering Fridays and skits in the playroom. “There were some homeroom teachers who were known for having really particularly good skits. And I was in two of those,” Arya said.
Enrolling in Campus School and later what would eventually become the state’s first Innovative School District was just a natural progression for both of their children, Arya and Cypress, who is in ninth grade at University High.
“We had such an ability to help shape these schools,” Remy, UofM professor of Philosophy, said. In 2019, Remy was part of a presidential steering committee charged with creating a project-based learning middle school now known as University Middle School. “To see my kids have a role in making that identity come together was really rewarding to watch. And I think it has helped them develop an agential sense of feeling autonomous.”
He hopes University Schools continue to have its students play a part in shaping and evolving the school system. Remy said, “It’ll be a challenge, I think, for the schools to think about how they do it because it was a necessity at the beginning. There was not a middle school. There was not a high school. The kids had to help build those schools.”
Arya says one of her favorite things about University High School is the autonomy and trust teachers provide the students. Her positive experience was one of the reasons Cypress decided to attend instead of going to another public high school in the city. “I was so happy when I could convince them to go to the same school as me,” she said.
“I think at so many high schools there’s so much emphasis put on rules and regulations. Don’t have your phones at school, only use this. That’s the standard, and you expect that in a high school,” Arya said. “But I think our high school has done an excellent job at least in some ways of treating us like adults and that’s what we want right now. I mean we need guidance, of course. We need adults in our lives, but we want to be treated like adults, especially at this point.”
That same trust was instilled at a very young age for the Debes.
Anu said, “Arya taught me this starting in fifth grade. Campus School would send home a folder and had assignments you completed for the week and everything. Arya just said to me one day, ‘Mama, I don’t want you to look in my folder,’ and I said, ‘Why not?’ and she was just like, ‘I just don’t. There’s no need for you too. It’s my work.’ And I said, ‘As long as you continue to be fine and have no problems that’s fine with me.’ And she said, ‘OK.’ And I’ve not looked at a piece of her homework since.”
That independence at home and at school allowed Arya to flourish. She became involved with the National Honor Society, serving as president for two years; helped launch the Student Leaders Collective, a student group comprised of student leaders in Student Government, the National Honor Society, Senior Council and more. She also runs cross country and track.
University High’s curriculum is set up so that students have flexibility, particularly those who are in dual enrollment courses. “I’ve had some really amazing teachers and mentors who have made me feel like I can succeed in whatever I want to do. I give them so much credit,” Arya said.
“The high school talks about how it wants to prepare students for college experiences by having college experiences, and I think they are really living up to that. By this point in Arya’s career, she more or less has a college student schedule,” Remy said. “When she’s done with classes, she can go home just the way a college student would. And I think that’s just right. We don’t want our children to experience this for the first time as a test circumstance when they get there.”
Arya even navigated the college application process all on her own, but it was a college counselor who told her about the prestigious Jefferson Scholarship at the University of Virginia, a highly competitive four-year scholarship awarded to only about 2% of high school seniors who are nominated. Arya aced her first interview from Mumbai when the family was on vacation at the time. Then came more interviews, which culminated with Arya being selected as a Jefferson Scholar.
“I’m incredibly appreciative of it,” she said. “It was a combination of absolutely never expecting that something that big would happen and 100% believing I would get it.”
She’s ready to take on college, pursuing her passions in biology and continuing research while donning her trademark bacteriophage earrings.
“It’s a big transition. I’m moving away from home. I’m going to be living with a roommate, but I’m used to the academic portion of it. I think that is going to make me feel better. Leaps and bounds better than I would otherwise,” Arya said.
For years, Arya was just down the street attending grade school, but she’ll be more than 750 miles away from home in college this fall.
“We’re going to miss her terribly, of course,” said Anu.
“I’m excited for the stories and adventures we’re going to hear about,” said Remy.
“And the fact that she has a full ride leaves room for me to by some plane tickets,” said Anu.
