Stuart Dymzarov, the founding principal of Malcolm Shabazz City High School in Madison, died on Thursday in Costa Rica. He was 81.
A native of New York, Dymzarov came to Madison after a stint in the Peace Corps. He became a teacher in the Madison Metropolitan School District, where he secured a Ford Foundation grant that would fund the city’s first alternative high school. Students chose the name for the school, naming it after the social justice activist Malcolm Shabazz, also known as Malcolm X. It began instruction in 1971 with Dymzarov at the helm.
Dymzarov adapted Shabazz’s famous slogan, “Revolution by any means necessary,” to the school setting, often declaring: “Education by any means necessary.”
In 1979, Shabazz merged with City High School, another alternative school established in 1972, and became Malcolm Shabazz City High School.
“I learned a lot from him,” said Steve Stuckert, who began teaching math at Shabazz with Dymzarov in 1982. “Accept the kid first, and then move on from there … I think we found that the most important thing was to stay flexible for the needs of the kids and the families, and that to have rigid rules was just not a good idea.”
Dymzarov didn’t stay in the principal’s office for long, Stuckert said.
“He wanted to teach kids and not be so much of the bureaucrat,” Stuckert said, affectionately calling Dymzarov a “hippie activist.” Dymzarov returned to teaching math alongside Stuckert, as Ruth Robarts, who would later serve as school board president, took over leadership of the school.
For the first 30 years, Shabazz students were granted diplomas from their “home” schools. That changed in 2021, and now the school is a degree-granting institution just like Madison’s other four traditional high schools. A Madison Metropolitan School District spokesman said 115 students have graduated directly from Shabazz in the last five years.
“The staff and community of MMSD’s Malcolm Shabazz City High School wish to express our deepest condolences on the passing of Stuart Dymzarov, one of the founding architects of our school,” current Shabazz principal Nathan O’Schaughnessy wrote in a statement Monday. “Stuart was more than an educator. He was a visionary who understood that for a school to truly serve its students, it had to belong to them. He was integral in establishing the ‘Shabazz Vision,’ a commitment to an alternative education that prioritizes the voices of all community members and fosters an environment of mutual respect and social responsibility. His vision carries on in the thousands of students whose lives have been touched and even saved by Shabazz. All of us walk in the footsteps of his dreams.”
In addition to a less structured environment, Shabazz offers more hands-on learning and does not give grades; students either earn credit or don’t. It’s intentionally credit or no credit – not pass or fail.
“It kind of took away that idea of, ‘oh, you’re a failure, kid,’” Stuckert said. “Here it was like, Okay, well, we’ll try again next time. “
A small student body, always fewer than 150 students, allowed for more individual attention, as well.
“Stuart and I were very lucky,” Stuckert said. “I mean, we ended up individualizing the math program for every kid. Regardless of where you were, you got the attention you needed, and if you put in the effort, you’d be successful.”
District administrators were skeptical at first. Shabazz remained an “experimental” school for its first five years, and funding was often in doubt.
“He was pretty much the point person fighting for its survival,” Stuckert said,” noting that Shabazz was often “considered the stepchild of the district.”
But it did survive – and, Stuckert said, was taken more seriously by the mid-1990s.
“They started doing surveys to figure out how much parents and kids liked their schools, and appreciated the schools, and Shabazz are just off the charts compared to the rest of them,” Stuckert recalled. “I think a bunch of them kind of realized, ‘oh my God, we better pay attention to this.’”
Dymzarov retired from teaching in 1999.
“I’m going to miss so much just chatting with him about life with politics and literature… I’m going to miss him terribly,” Stuckert said. “Luckily, he’s left a strong institution. Shabazz will endure.”
Dymzarov is survived by wife, Marsha, three children and three grandchildren. A memorial will be held Wednesday, May 6, 12:30 – 2:30 pm at Atwood Music Hall, 1925 Winnebago Street in Madison. His family has established a scholarship fund in his honor to help Shabazz City High School students further their education, and is currently accepting donations at this link.
