Tonight JCJ Architecture will discuss their recommendations for school redistricting at the Board of Education meeting (Middletown High School Communications Center, 7:00 PM), among those recommendations are several unconfirmed options for Macdonough Elementary school reported to the Eye.
Macdonough has received well-deserved attention lately for an impressive improvement in learning and in the test scores which reflect the level of learning at the school. But the school is still outside of compliance for socioeconomic balance, according to state standards, and as a small neighborhood school, achieving that balance has proven to be elusive. Among the proposed recommendations reported to the Eye are plans to expand the physical size of the school or to close it and move students to another (unnamed site).
A Eye source reports that a small committee has been studying the possibility of transforming Macdonough into an interdistrict magnet school which would help bring the school back into compliance. That committee is reportedly made up of school officials, residents, members of the Wesleyan community, and a representative from an established magnet school in Central Connecticut.
Discussion of the magnet school proposal was originally on tonight's agenda, but the agenda item has been withdrawn.
Hi Ed,
ReplyDeleteAs the president of Macdonough's PTA, I was asked to join the conversation about a potential magnet at Macdonough two weeks ago - there are a lot of ideas on the table, but that's just the beginning step. Hopefully the Board of Ed will now convene some kind of public study process or committee to come up with a proposal that would work for Middletown and especially the kids of the North End.
To all who are interested in this issue, please come to tonight's Board meeting at the MHS library to be part of the next step!