I have to agree with many of the folks who have e-mailed me off-list--as well as those who have replied to the list--about the overall quality of the schools and the deep educational commitment of many parents, administrators and teachers. In my brief touring of the schools, in my many many conversations with parents, teachers, and others, and in feedback I've received from people who are not involved in the schools but are quite observant, Minneapolis has a remarkable school system. Not perfect, but certainly very strong.
Now, I say that with some wariness, as my perspective is colored by what I choose to see: elementary or K-8 schools in mostly far South Minneapolis. I'm not averse to looking at schools outside this area, but there is much to be said about sticking close to home. This coming from a person who was bussed everyday at an early age from one end of Tulsa to the other, an actually remarkable, positive, and life-altering time for me. I'd love to hear perspectives of those in North and Northeast Minneapolis and whether their experiences in shopping for schools is vastly different. I don't want to presume that it is. My experiences so far, for those parents and others who are still interested and reading on: Hale Community School--53rd and 13th. Parents who have children at Hale rave on and on about it, and there is phenomenal parental involvement, to such an extent that we chuckled about the idea of overcommitted parents who try to micromanage affairs (not true, but it did humorously come to mind). The school is paired with Field school to provide a divided campus for a K-8 framework. My son's mom loved the school--I was not bowled over, but perhaps expectations were too high given what I'd heard. It feels very traditional (nothing wrong with that in itself), safe, and well-run. It did not help my overall impression, however, when some administrators and teachers seemed to overemphasize its low student suspension rate, with one teacher telling my son's mother and me about how many kids at Hale come from intact families (obviously, my son does not). We seemed to be encouraged, if not extolled, to uphold the community by sending our kid to Hale. An oddly jarring exhaltation. Windom Dual Spanish-English Immersion--58th and Wentworth. I felt that this is a wonderful school with a deep parental commitment to a dual immersion language program begun last year. Thus, first-graders now are the current class coming up that will ultimately change the overall dimension and focus of the school from its current non-specialized and open system to one focusing on dual language immersion. Windom adopted the 90/10 approach to immersion, requiring 90% of instruction in Spanish and 10% in English for the K-2 years, with it slowly becoming 50-50 after that. Because of this approach, it seems a fantastic school for Spanish-speaking kids, whose native language is celebrated and explored rather than subtly pushed aside--it shifts the paradigm where the native Spanish-speaker is the role model for communicating. The school is tiny for a K-8 school (about 350 kids total), definitely a plus. And, the teachers I encountered were absolutely fantastic. Overall, however, its hard to commit to a new program unless you feel compelled by what it offers for your child, and we're not sure how committed we are to Spanish immersion. It is still in the running. Ramsey International Fine Arts Center--50th and Nicollet. Remarkably, few parents I've talked with are considering Ramsey and we've heard strange negative rumblings about the school, a K-8 magnet that focuses on the arts generally and on stringed instruments specifically. We overlooked some troubling--but perhaps inaccurate or skewed--statistics regarding the overall school environment and students' perception of safety and teachers' respect for students. We took a tour. It's a large K-8 school with about 900 students in a beautiful old building, with an incredible old auditorium for performances. Again, some deeply committed and effective teachers, particularly kindergarten, Spanish Fine Arts, and the stringed instrument instructor, who very compellingly linked music with traditional studies, such as math. Students--who must adhere to a dress code that loosely translates to black or khaki pants and blue or white collared shirts--obviously had pride in the school and the building, and it is a remarkably diverse school, both in socio-economics and race. I'm not sure it's a good school for the quiet, introverted kid, so that gives me some pause. But it may end up high on our list, especially after speaking to two parents last night (one of whom teaches in the Minneapolis system) whose older kids are there and whose younger kids will enter kindergarten next year. I'm going to tour Barton Open as well, which is hugely popular and on paper sounds like the school I attended as a kid. Others from the list have encouraged me to consider Kenny, Whittier, and Armatage. We considered Burroughs but feel it too is so popular that we may be wasting one of our precious choices by trying to finagle our way in (it is, after all, a community school, not a magnet). I have to say at times you can vastly overthink this process and the perceived immensity of the choices. Admittedly, it is a big decision and one that we are specifically called on to make. Off-list, one person commented on how we are given so many choices that it may result in our not holding all the schools accountable. I'd have to think about that, as well as the clear discrepancies that exist geographically and socio-economically with the schools, especially the smorgasbord of excellent schools in the area where we are looking. Gregory Luce St. Paul [Page connected] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dorian Eder Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 8:21 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Mpls] School Choice I have made this choice myself several times, and am soon to do it again, so here is my two cents. When my daughter was 5 and I was going through a divorce, I had to move between the deadline for applications and the start of the school year, so I was limited to the community schools instead of magnets. I didn't really care where I lived, I just wanted my daughter to have a great school experience. So, after lookig at all the test scores and indicators, we chose an apartment a block from Longfellow Elementary. (It turned out that one block was outside Longfellow's attendance area! Go figure - I threw the right number of fits in front of the right number of people and got her registered anyway). It was a FANTASTIC kindergarten experience for my child. At the time, Longfellow was expanding from a K-3 to a K-5, but their commitment and expertise with Earl Childhood education was evident. My daughter came home from her first day of kindergarten barely able to contain her excitement. This really set the tone for her attitude towards school for the next several years. We ended up moving to Northeast the following year and I had to start over. We chose Webster Open because I was committed to Open curriculum and philosophy. I was also certain I wanted her in a K-8 school. This is all personal opinion, but I think it's a bad idea to pull any volitile (and they all are) 12 year old out of their school environment and throw them to the wolves in a middle school. I hadn't heard ANY good news about Minneapolis middle schools, and I knew that most of the parents who took their kids out of the district did so when faced with the Middle School Dilemma. It turns out, Webster was a HUGE disappointment and I began shopping around for a better choice immediately. Webster is slated to close soon, so this is all probably a moot point. Suffice it to say, my daughter's classroom was a trailer parked behind the school - for two years. I pulled her out of Webster in the middle of 2nd grade because a space opened up at. . . Marcy Open. I cannot say enough great things about this school. When I entered the buiding for the first time, it was calm and orderly. Every adult I saw interact with a child called that child by name and had a real conversation with them. The school is organized by level, with the youngest kids on the ground floor and oldest kids on the top. The parent involvement is excellent and teachers at Marcy have one of the lowest turnover rates in the district. I love it, love it, love it. There have been three priciplals over the past 6 years, but the current pricipal, Jane Ellis, is very forthright, clearly committed to the children in the school and refreshingly honest with anyone willing to talk with her. Like any school, there are great teachers, and not very good ones and my daughter has experienced the spectrum, but on the whole I couldn't be more pleased. Because of the community and parent support, Marcy was able to withstand some of the damage done by budget cuts beeter than other schools, but hasn't been able to keep them away from the classroom entirely. My daughter was a 7th grader at Marcy until a few weeks ago, when she left to study abroad in Australia for a year. When she returns, she'll enter High School. It may seem a long, long ways off, but I can attest that the time has flown by. I am so glad I placed her in a K-8 school. She really grew attached the community of kids and parents. It's also important (if you can bring yourself to do it) to try to think ahead to the High School options, and if there is an elementary/middle program that will best prepare your child for a particular high school program. Most of the kids at Marcy seem to be moving on to South Open or South Liberal Arts, and I think coming from an Open school gives them a "leg-up" in the selection process. Also, this month's issue of Family Times (which I generally find to be useless) has a comprehensive listing of the private and *charter* schools in the metro. It's hard to find a good list all in one place. Good luck to you and I hope this helps. Dorian Eder Windom Park REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
