The phrase “neighborhood schools” has become a synonym for resegregation, a nice-sounding buzzword for reactionary education politics; and that’s too bad. Because when neighborhoods are really caring places rather than fearful gated communities, they provide a support structure for kids and for teachers.

I was recently talking with some folks at the Marian Cheek Jackson Center, a research and outreach center in the Northside neighborhood of Chapel Hill. Their goal is to keep the historical memory of the neighborhood alive by recording oral histories. The Center’s staff and volunteers also are very committed to preserving the sense of neighborhood that existed before the onslaught of gentrification and goes back generations.

The Center has collected stories of local residents and seeks to share Northside’s rich history with students at local schools and at UNC who otherwise, most likely, would not learn about their local history and thus not make connections between…