From another post:
"They also proposed moving Montessori out of Friendship and into Fort Pitt which was said to be larger and more able to serve the waiting list at Montessori currently.
October 5, 2011 12:11 PM
Questioner said...
Continued obliviousness to the importance of location, neighborhoods, connections... it cannot be assumed that the young families in a reviving neighborhood drawn to a school they can walk to will be just as happy to go to Fort Pitt. Way to quash the comeback!
October 5, 2011 1:08 PM
Anonymous said...
Fort Pitt had substantial improvement in PSSA, much greater than in most other schools. The teason given for "closing" Fort Pitt was that there were only about 150 students there. Clearly the drop in enrollment over the past few years was due to the demolition of the Garfield Hgts Projects. That area and beyond has been newly developed with literally hundreds of new homes with more in the development process. These hundreds of homes (with children) are being quickly inhabited. The closing of Fort Pitt means that Garfield children will be sent to Arsenal as the feeder school. Arsenal is much too long and hazardous walk for K-5 children. Will they be bussed?
Will all of the children in the new Garfield Heights Common homes be bussed when Fort Pitt is just within several hundred yards of where they live?
Since Fort Pitt is designated as "closed" and children have been assigned elsewhere WHY did the conversation by Cate Reed & Company SUDDENLY turn to moving Montessori from Friendship to Fort Pitt at last night's meeting (10/4/11)? Just asking???
October 5, 2011 1:25 PM"
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3 comments:
Since Montessori is proving popular and there are now more children near Fort Pitt- why not keep both open as Montessori schools and attract students rather than drive them away?
Sounds like a great idea to me! I was thinking maybe there would be a greater option for Garfield children to attend a Montessori; however, it appeared that PPS wanted the larger building for those 'in the know' who prefer Montessori to other PPS elementary schools.
Usually I don't like to "project" but it seems to have gained favor in PPS to explain poor PSSA scores where the Growth Model is used to avoid the stigma of continuing "failure" in PPS schools. So, let us "project" another explanation for "closing" Fort Pitt an sending the children elsewhere and as soon as that is accomplished "open" Fort Pitt to the "in the know" group who can't get into Friendship Montessori because it is beyond capacity.
Sometimes we assume that PPS does not know what it is doing, "clueless" is the word used. But, think for a moment about the end result here. Black kids, poor kids being bussed all over the city year after year so that room can be made to accommodate "those in the know" with better programs and facilities for their children.
Is it because 1) PPS doesn't know how to educate Black and/or Poor children, OR is it because 2) PPS thinks Black and Poor children CANNOT learn. It appears to be one or the other and BOTH REASONS are egregiously UNACCEPTABLE.
School changes.... Has anyone heard about the redistricting of Minadeo and Greenfield students. A meeting Monday at Greenfield occurred and they want to move the Hazelwood students that are attending Minadeo and send them to Greenfield. Hmmm, so Hazelwood community already loses their neighborhood school, Burgwin, sends the students to Mifflin, some to Greenfield, and many to Minadeo. Now, because numbers are so low at Greenfield, lets pull most of the students from Minadeo and place them at Greenfield. Domino effect....Sterrett numbers will go down as well because Greenfield is a K-8 school. I guess the kids from Hazelwood can just be shipped wherever need be so some schools can stay open. Board votes in 2 months on this, funny how flyers went out the Friday before the meeting, very few parents from Hazelwood showed up at the meeting Monday. This will just be swept under the carpet I'm sure.
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