I am proud to be the parent of a student who attends Frank Porter Graham Elementary School. A neighborhood school for 50 years, FPG is a uniquely diverse and thriving member of our community. Our students are part of a family, one that represents more than 40 nationalities. Our principal, Dr. Bongarten, has led a committed and creative staff on a rigorous path of change and growth. Such change resulted in our school having shown the most academic improvement of all elementary schools in the district for the 2010-11 school year! We have been named a School of Distinction to boot! With so much to celebrate and take pride in, it is hard to understand why a team of school and district administrators would recommend completely changing our school’s course by turning it into a dual-language magnet school instead? And yet, this is exactly what the administrative team is recommending to the school board.
In my opinion, the criterion upon which the recommendation was based is arbitrary at best. Additionally, a vulnerable population of Burmese refugees would be dispersed to other schools if this recommendation were to pass. This would remove them from the familiarity and safety of their neighborhood school – one they can walk to, enabling them to participate in school functions and activities. Another concern is that such a proposal would require drastic staff and programmatic changes to an educational environment that has finally, after many administrative setbacks, gotten back on its feet.
A dual-language magnet school may very well be a good idea for our district, but dismantling a thriving community school to achieve that goal is most definitely not.
Rebecca and Hayden Bosworth
FPG parents
While I understand the Spanish dual-language program is an important one to have in CHCCS, I do not believe uprooting several communities and neighborhood schools in the district to create a magnet is the solution (especially without a thoughtful, specific plan first being given to the community to consider.) Most importantly, Frank Porter Graham Elementary is not only a school that is rich in culture, but its administrative team and faculty are doing incredible work. It would be extremely disheartening for this decision to stop the work that’s being done at a school that is becoming a beacon for other district schools in its efforts to improve literacy. As a parent of a child at FPG and as an educator (with a master’s degree in reading education,) I am confident that instruction at FPG is highly differentiated, because of the workshop model and collaborative efforts with the teacher’s college that are in place. CHCCS should be applauding FPG, not diminishing the hard work, time and talents of its administration, faculty, staff and families.
Erin James
FPG parent