[Schoolconsolidation] Schoolconsolidation Digest, Vol 5, Issue 1
butta5 at adelphia.net
butta5 at adelphia.net
Sat Oct 6 16:01:04 MDT 2007
As a parent who had a child at all 3 levels of public education last year - 1 in
elementary at MLD, 1 at TAMS, and 1 in high school, I want to share my own
knowledge of the school bussing and a few other situations with townspeople who
have much younger children who have not reached school at all yet, or are not
yet in middle or high school.
1. To clarify, Thornton Academy does not have an open campus. Students are not
allowed to leave campus between the hours of 7:45 and 2 p.m. Some high school's
do have open campus policies, TA does not.
2. With regard to the length of the bus rides. We live 1.5 miles from MLD
School. My 4th grader is on the bus for roughly 20-25 minutes in the morning,
and 40 minutes in the afternoon for a total of an hour + each day. My student
who was a TAMS last year was dismissed from school at 2 p.m., and walked through
the door before 2:30 each day.
With regard to the morning schedule and amount of sleep, my son who was at
MLD for middle school in 7th grade was picked up by the bus in the morning at
roughly 7 a.m. Last year for 8th grade at TAMS he was picked up at 7 a.m. And
this year in 9th grade at TA he is picked up at 7 a.m. as are all Arundel high
school students in our neighborhood regardless of the school they attend.
4. And lastly, and just as a side note, I take exception to Mr. Sanborn's
wording that children are "dragged through a facility that is old, outdated, and
in need of repair (MLD)....
A school is a community for learning, not a building. The building is the shell,
the staff, teachers and students are the school. The school is the heart of this
community. We have no town center, and a town without a school or a town center
has no identity - there are no roots to the tree.
Old buildings are certainly an issue, but there are old buildings in both RSU's.
Both KHS and TA have old buildings, many of TA's are among the most historic in
the area.
A sense of belonging and a tight knit community school with caring and quality
teachers are what brought us to the small town of Arundel 10 years ago. For us,
it was the perfect alternative to the bigger areas with big schools that
surround Arundel.
Amazingly and with great success the administration and staff at TAMS have
created a top notch tight-knit community school for our children. They love it
there! It's a seemless transition, and our community can expect nothing but
great gains socially and academically for our middle school students in the
coming years at TAMS. My own children will not be affected by the consolidation,
so I have no personal interest in the outcome, and I don't know what the right
direction is.
However, having the benefit of 13 years of experience with a child in the public
education system in Arundel, I can say with utter certainty that it would be an
absolute shame to lose our community school, and our opportunity to attend the
unparalled TAMS, and I hope both remain open and vibrant school communities for
our children for many years to come.
Donna Buttarazzi
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Today's Topics:
1. Questions Surrounding School Consolidation (Douglas Sanborn)
2. Update on Meetings Around Consolidation (Michael Richards)
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 05:44:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: Douglas Sanborn <sanbornd at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Schoolconsolidation] Questions Surrounding School
Consolidation
To: schoolconsolidation at cammad.net
Message-ID: <155561.54930.qm at web50110.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
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All,
I have attended several meetings with the school board
and with each RSU group. While both RSU's have
strengths, I have come up with a list of key questions
each voter should ask themselves prior to voting.
There are a couple important things to remember when
casting your vote. A: This decision will last a
lifetime. It will affect more than your family,
friends and relatives currently living here. B: The
choice of high school will still remain after the
consolidation has passed.
1. Do you really want your impressionable child going
to middle school on an open campus with the high
school students?
2. Sleep is one of the most important aspects of a
child?s learning and development. Should he/she be
subject to riding on a bus for nearly an hour EACH
WAY?
3. Won?t the cost of those commutes undoubtedly rise
quicker than our budgets will allow?
4. Should our children be dragged through a facility
that is old, outdated and in need of repair (MLD) when
we have brand new facilities available in very close
proximity (Kennebunk Elementary and Middle School of
the Kennebunks)? If MLD is closed and if the contract
is not renewed, then work to help raise the proper
funding to keep it open and provide our greatest
assets, our children, the proper learning environment
to compete globally.
5. When you have the option of sending your child to
the #2 rated school system in the state (according to
MEA results), and the only to achieve the
International Baccalaureate designation, versus
another system that is consistently average or BELOW
state average, which do you instinctively choose? Only
the Kennebunk school system has accreditation from New
England Association of Schools and Colleges at
elementary, middle and high school levels.
http://www.neasc.org/roster/rosterpe.htm#ME
http://www.neasc.org/roster/rosterpm.htm#ME
http://www.neasc.org/roster/psme.htm
6. When you decided to live in Arundel, did you make
the school departments an integral part of that
decision?
7. Won?t a better school system contribute to the
resale value and the ability to sell your home in the
future?
8. Does the socio-economic make up of a school system
contribute to the success of its attendees?
9. If you want your child to go to another high school
other than the appointed, they will still have that
option. What won?t be a viable option for most
families is to pay for their child to go to another
elementary and middle school. Education is more
important the earlier it is incurred?i.e. elementary
school is actually more important than high school
because it is there that students learn to be a
student.
Thank you for your time.
Doug Sanborn
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 12:40:12 -0400
From: "Michael Richards" <michael at arundelschool.net>
Subject: [Schoolconsolidation] Update on Meetings Around Consolidation
To: mldstaff at arundelschool.net, schoolconsolidation at cammad.net
Message-ID:
<2eba3a4b0710040940o306959c2s6d5e94b94bde36ba at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 7 PM MLD
School Board Special Meeting
* Teacher Presentation
* Board Discussion
Wednesday, October 10 7 PM MLD
School Board Special Meeting
*RSU Discussion & Vote
The minutes to the RSU 57 meetings to date:
http://www.msad71.net/RPC/RPC_Min.htm
Minutes from the RSU 56 meetings will be forwarded as soon as they are
available.
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copies of this transmission. Thank you.
Mildred L. Day School
Arundel, Maine
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