Moving to Macdonough: One Family's Opinion

COMMENTARY

Living downtown, it's never made much sense to me that my kids should attend Farm Hill School, on the other side of town.   But given the reputation of the school they should have attended when they started, Macdonough, I was glad that they were assigned to Farm Hill.

Reputation.  It's a difficult thing to live down.

But the reputation of Macdonough needs to change, because it's not the school it was 15, or 10 or 5 years ago.

Macdonough now competes with all other Middletown schools in achievement and test scores, a fact most Middletown residents find convenient to ignore.

The reputation of the "old" Macdonough no longer holds true.

With redistricting, several sets of children from relatively affluent families who are concerned about educational values, and deeply involved in the lives of their children, are slated to attend Macdonough.  Many of these children are also caucasian, and that fact will help equalize the racial balance in a school where racial balance was out of whack using whatever measure you choose.

Four years ago Macdonough was at an undeniable, dismal low.  It's a shameful fact that performance at the school was below measurable standards.  Kids at Macdonough were not learning, and were destined for failure.  And shame on most of us because we didn't care about "that" school, in "that" neighborhood, and "those" families.

Enter Principal Jon Romeo.



Romeo had a history of achievement at schools with a high poverty level, and with educational challenges.  In three years, with help from school administrators, he has turned Mcdonough around.  Achievement levels match, or surpass other schools in Middletown.  Macdonough is not among the three "non-performing" schools in town.  And Romeo has the statistics to prove it.  Just ask, he's happy to share them.

And Romeo isn't finished.  He wants Macdonough to be the best elementary school in the city, and he's convinced it can be among the best in the state.

Visit Macdonough and you'll find classrooms filled with committed teachers because Romeo has searched for teachers committed to the vision of educating every student.  Visit Macdonough and you'll see motivated teachers engaged in a education pursuit which engages students at all levels.  Visit Macdonough and you'll find students learning in classrooms with the latest technology, and a low teacher-to-student ratio.  Visit Macdonough school and you'll find a warmth and welcome that is just not evident in many other schools.

Visit Macdonough.  Romeo will be happy to host your visit.  Drop in unannounced.  He's delighted to demonstrate that Macdonough is a safe, happy learning environment at any time of the day.

Is it a perfect school?  Obviously not.  Are there challenges?  Of course.  Is the neighborhood ideal.  No.  But then again, it's five blocks from where I live, a pretty good neighborhood, but far from perfect.

Imagine what the school could be with the support of six or eight, or ten or twelve more families committed to pursuing academic excellence, with smart, articulate parents ready to fight for achievement alongside Romeo and his staff.

As to the question of the proposed redistricting, it's necessary, overdue and as well thought out as any such endeavor could be.  I'll probably never be convinced that the process was the best politically, but the outcome is surprising comprehensive in its conclusions - reducing overcrowding in schools with jammed classrooms, and moving toward a more equitable distribution in racial balance.  Could other solutions, like creating a magnet school, worked better?  Maybe, but for now school choice is off the table (except for parents of kids at Middletown's non-performing schools).

I understand that parents are dismayed because their children will leave schools they are familiar with to attend a school that formerly had a terrible reputation.  The anxiety is real and the challenges undeniable.

I urge those parents to visit Macdonough and to meet Romeo.  I've seen him change minds in an hour.

Frankly I'm surprised that the most enlightened and educated among us (including yours truly, for a time), have been so averse to making the system a better system for all, particularly when our children will not have to attend an underperforming school as a result.  If we believe in equanimity in the public school system, than we've got to roll up our sleeves, get involved, and walk the talk.

It is simply an injustice to feel that our kids should not be inconvenienced by a redistricting when so many kids, with so much promise have been abandoned for so long because they did not always have the voice of an educated, articulate set of parents to get the attention of the Board of Education.

This redistricting needs to work for every child, every parent and every school in Middletown.  It's got to work if public education is to live up to its potential of providing a quality education for every child.

It's up to us to be sure that with the redistricting that every school gets the resources needed to make the transition as painless as possible, and to make the outcome as fruitful as it can be.

Below is a letter that my wife and I have sent to the Board of Education.
 

Dear Dr. Frechette and Members of the Board of Education:

After several years of consideration, a year of research and a few months of intense consideration, the Board of Education has accepted the recommendations of an Ad Hoc Committee to redistrict elementary schools, redraw attendance boundaries, and move more than 440 children to new schools.

As several have noted, redistricting has been avoided for so long because the changes can be painful.

I have twin boys in first grade at Farm Hill.  If redistricting is approved they will attend second grade at Macdonough.

We are impressed with the improvements in achievement at Macdonough and the work Jon Romeo and his staff has done to transform a school which consistently fell below performance standards in the past.  And we’re excited to have our kids part of the program.

We’re impressed with the work of the ad hoc committee as they sifted through the data, and constructed elementary school districts which are cohesive, and allow all children in a neighborhood to attend the same school. 

While our transition to a new school will not be without challenges, we think there are imperatives to make sure the redistricting and the transition will be successful.

-       All schools with transitions need the support of the school staffs and the administrative staff at the central office

-       Macdonough School, which still has the oldest physical plant and the highest rate of students affected by poverty, understandably needs a share of resources which reflects its greater needs and challenges.

-       The Board of Education should not alter the elementary boundaries drawn by the ad hoc committee after considerable work.  The BOE should resist all temptation to alter attendance boundaries based on the pleas of a small number of parents whose children will be affected.  This plan is not simply impacting 40 children it is impacting an additional 400 children.  ALL of these families will be facing numerous challenges in transitioning their children.  No one family’s pain should be considered less than another’s. The boundaries drawn by the committee have created a delicate balance which can be undone by tinkering, grandfathering, choice or spot zoning.

-       The BOE should work with the city to be sure that the neighborhoods surrounding Macdonough are safe for parents and students to walk to school.

Unfortunately, one negative consequence of the redistricting is that real estate values in the Village District are reduced because of the (false) perception people have about Macdonough.  The redistricting may discourage home ownership in the Village District.  The BOE and the city must do all in its power to make Macdonough a top school and to promote the quality of the education there, and to convince everyone in town that it's a quality school.