Chapter 21: There are two teachers who visit Francie's school each week. The music teacher, Mr. Morton, is especially talented and is wonderfully successful at introducing classical music into the children's lives. Miss Bernstone teaches art. Both Mr. Morton and Miss Bernstone love the children, regardless of how poor they are. Their weekly visits are the one bright spot in an otherwise unhappy educational process.
Chapter 22: Francie has finally learned to read. When she realizes that she recognizes words and then phrases and sentences, she is thrilled. Francie also devises a game to help her learn arithmetic. She imagines that each number is a member of her family, which allows her to visualize arithmetic and understand it better.
Chapter 23: One day, Francie walks beyond her immediate neighborhood and finds herself in a neighborhood where there are no large apartments. She sees a lovely brick building, which is the school for that neighborhood. Francie is enchanted by what she sees and wants to attend this new school. When her father comes home that evening, Francie is waiting for him and asks if she can attend the smaller school.
Francie and her father walk to see the new school. When they arrive at the school Johnny begins to sing and tells Francie that they must find a house near the school and write down the address. They need an address to give to the school so that they can prove that Francie lives in the neighborhood. When she hears about it, Katie is not in favor of this lie, but she does not stop Johnny from writing a letter arranging for Francie to transfer to the new school. Johnny explains to Francie that the lie is for the greater good, which makes it okay.
Neeley expresses no interest in changing schools, so Francie enrolls at the new school by herself. She loves her new school and does not mind that she must walk 24 blocks each direction to school. In the new school, children are not beaten or mistreated. The principal and teachers are wonderful, and even the janitor is well liked, generous, and friendly.
