While I am a parent whose children neither attend FPG nor are enrolled in a dual-language program, the recent media coverage prompted me to read the dual-language report to learn more. I was surprised and somewhat saddened to learn that the school board is seriously considering dismantling a 50-year-old school that is already advancing the goals set forth by the district.
While I applaud the school system for using dual-language programs to close the achievement gap, it defies logic that the system would target a school that is already closing the achievement gap, even with some of our most vulnerable students. I also do not understand how the report ignored the impact of this change on a sensitive immigrant population that has found a home at FPG.
Dual language and FPG have a lot in common – promoting and celebrating diversity, closing the achievement gap, addressing the needs of all students, etc. Common sense says we should find a way to promote dual language while keeping FPG a local neighborhood school.
Shawn Sullivan
Chapel Hill