School Owners

Both received scholarships to Ivy League schools. Hans attended Princeton and Ivan went to Harvard, where he majored in sociology and anthropology and later received a master's degree in education. He went to work first in New York City for Martin Luther King High School on the west side, then went on to work at some of the city's alternative schools.

Meanwhile, brother Hans enrolled at Columbia University Law School. He found a high-salary job at a large law firm, where he was doing mortgage bank securities, but he left to become a narcotics prosecutor at the district attorney's office. Hans later became the chief council to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. After a year, he took a position back in Harlem as the chief council of a new public defenders group.

In his free time, Hans taught street law classes for children, and he soon realized that he wanted to do something more to help trouble youths. He and his brother, Ivan, agreed to start a new school on the grounds of Exodus House.

Hans got the $50,000 they needed from a friend and from the JFK Jr. Foundation. The area around Exodus House had high drug traffic, so the brothers wore bulletproof vests, received 24-hour police protection, and withstood death threats for some time.

Today drug dealers no longer skulk around the property, and 55 children ages 10 to 14 go to school there each day. The children's families pay $100 per month for tuition because the Hagemans feel that is one way to get the parents involved in their children's education. Ivan is the school principal and is responsible for the curriculum and supervision of the four teachers on staff. The motto of the school is "competence with character."

The Hagemans say they want to expose their students to a world outside of their neighborhood and to the quiet of nature. One of the assignments for the children is to take a walk in Central Park. The children learn judo instead of the usual competitive sport because the judo philosophy is that sometimes yielding to an opponent is the only way to win. Part of the curriculum also involves daily Family Group Meetings, where children have an opportunity and an obligation to reflect on what is going on in their lives--both in and out of school.

Hans lives at the school in a former office space, which is a simple three-bedroom apartment that he says suits his job and lifestyle. He said he feels that living on the premises makes the process of helping the children much simpler. Ivan says that he knows he is living the good life because he has met his parents' standards by helping change children's lives.