As a parent of two elementary students at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School, I recognize that there is a significant achievement gap in our community and I believe that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools District is committed to narrowing it. The recommendations that came out of the district’s Dual Language Advisory Committee, which were meant to address this issue, are not on target and are not worthy of this thoughtful community.
One of the committee’s recommendations is to dismantle FPG and convert it to a dual-language magnet school for the district. This approach is misguided however, as FPG is already at the forefront in narrowing the achievement gap in our district.
With students from 41 different nations and 51 percent of the student population qualifying for free or reduced lunch, FPG is the district’s most economically diverse, multicultural school.
Principal Dr. Rita Bongarten has made incredible gains in her short tenure at FPG. For the 2010-11 school year (her first year on the job), FPG posted the highest growth in the district. Under her leadership, this school is attracting positive attention from other educators in the district. Why? Dr. Bongarten has implemented an acclaimed reading and writing workshop model developed by Lucy Calkins at Columbia University. With this and other data-driven solutions, Dr. Bongarten and her committed staff are ready to forge ahead in their mission of making FPG an academic beacon, an example of how to narrow the achievement gap in a socioeconomically diverse, multicultural school.
Having a dual-language magnet school in our district may be a laudable goal, but it seems shortsighted to disrupt what is going on FPG for that purpose. I implore our school board to let FPG continue its work. If it makes sense for the district to create a dual language magnet school, let that experiment happen alongside what is going on at FPG – not instead of it.
Kathy Irvin
Carrboro
Thank you so much for another well presented commentary on the shortsighted recommendations of the Dual Language Advisory Committee. Yes, let’s grow together with positive solutions for the masses, not the limited few.