Closing an Elementary School

[Kristie Mather]

Dear Board members,

I do not envy you as you are making a decision that will impact and subject you to the ire of many CHCCS families from the school to be closed and those that will be redistricted. Personally, I think kids as a whole are far more resilient than their parents when it comes to moving to new schools. My two kids have been at Ephesus, Seawell and Glenwood, and I felt they were all strong schools with their own strengths and opportunities for improvement, and I won't advocate for any of the buildings over the others. One child is in college and the other a freshman in high school, so these decisions won't impact my children directly.

I do advocate for

1) Redistricting that will again create similar racial and socioeconomic profiles for the kids at all elementary schools, except when there are reasons why this would not be best for the kids. When I was looking at CHCCS schools about 13 years ago, one of the things that stuck out was how similar these profiles were for schools (most similar for high and middle school, but significantly so for elementary). We moved from a district where this was not the case, and I was relieved that my kids would interact with a variety of families, no matter where I chose to live in the CHCCS district.

2) Very strong support for kids who move to new schools. When the new redistricting plan goes into force, please have extra open houses over the summer. Most kids are adaptable, but the change will be harder for some kids. Please make extra effort to reach out to those children and families with creative ideas about how to make them comfortable with new schools - playground playdates? More opportunities to tour the school and meet staff? ...

3) Retaining the building and land of the closed school. I recall about a decade ago hearing how critical it was that we prepare for a new elementary school within five years and another one or two within the following five. A great concern at that time was where affordable land existed that could possibly house other schools. With demographics subject to so many factors,the future is difficult to predict and losing the buildings and land may well put us into a much larger bind in the future.

4) Keeping the Mandarin Dual Language Immersion program on a strong footing, with sensitivity if it is moved to how all students are impacted. I spoke multiple times to the Board for a couple of years from 2017 on about the value of the program. I maintain my strong support for the program, and all dual language programs for many reasons, most of which you are hearing now from the current parent cohort. I feel we should have more second language learning, especially dual language, not less. 

When I was involved, the MDL program was struggling for survival. A major reason was that "schools within a school" had evolved, and the interactions between the MDL track kids and the "Traditional" track kids was very low. There was antagonism within the school and between parents. The STEAM2 magnet program was designed to overcome that and create collaboration rather than competition between the families. With the pandemic reducing interactions between all kids, my child didn't experience much of the new STEAM2 magnet. My understanding is that the atmosphere changed drastically at Glenwood with the intentional connections created.

It is a salient concern that if Glenwood is closed, and the two halves of the program split, the MDL program will again be in jeopardy. That would be a great loss for our community and our kids. I support the best practice of keeping a single language at a school. As such, if the MDL program is moved to another school, best practice would be that the World Language there should be Mandarin. If closing Glenwood is the best decision, please be sensitive to the students at the receiving school. Talk to the Glenwood families in the non-immersion track (and those who were, but whose children are now in middle and high school) about how they felt about the switch to Mandarin from French. What went well, and what didn't? If Glenwood is closed, please put the extra effort in to take into account what is necessary to preserve and strengthen the Mandarin Dual Language program.

I can't speak to the desire for the STEAM2 program, as my child wasn't involved. I think that can be assessed by the number of parents who enter their child in the STEAM2 lottery. If that magnet program is better located at a different school than the MDL program, the Mandarin portion will need to change to match the current language at the school.

I have deep respect for all of you who choose to add service to our public schools to your responsibilities. This is important work, with great impact.

Best,

Kristie Mather - mom who is very happy with all of my kids' schools

Kid #1: Ephesus, Seawell, Smith, ECHHS

Kid #2: Glenwood, Phillips, ECHHS