Milliones/ U Prep

Article about Milliones in the New Pittsburgh Courier:

http://www.newpittsburghcourieronline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=932:former-milliones-school-offers-u-prep&catid=38:metro&Itemid=27

A few interesting points. The article notes that the school offers all middle school sports and next year will offer all high school sports. It also answers the question of how they are managing all these teams in a single school: two gymnasiums, like Brashear. The article notes that the school is designed to have "no more than 600 total students" (although with current attrition rates it will have much fewer).

In comparison the IB school has one gym for a planned 1000+ students- raising the question of whether another gym is planned but the cost not included in facilities estimates, or if the intention is to maintain this disparity in facilities.

And raising the further question of why the the need for multiple gyms was not discussed when the 6-12 configuration was first proposed.

Public hearing is on an earlier day and time this month

Due to holidays this month's public hearing is early in the month- Monday, December 7.

It is also at an earlier time: 5:45 or whenever the preceding charter public hearing beginning at 5:30 is over. Arrive early (at 5:00) to join the NAACP-led march for educational equity.

At the November 23 Town Hall meeting parents, students and community members raised concerns about a range of issues that rarely come up at board meetings. It would be good for some of these concerns to be expressed at a public hearing.

Uniforms

On another post anon1 wrote:

"Another thing to take a look at is the possibility of uniforms. Waiting until new configurations are established to allow parents to vote on the topic should not be necessary. I am sorry to say Mrs. Colaizzi's objections to uniforms is all wet and has gotten old. Can't somebody convince her it is okay to lose a battle once in a while? I may have a faulty memory but I believe Mr. Brentley and Mrs. Colaizzi are in the same camp on the subject. You need only to watch the Excellence for All TV show and see the poise students in uniform project to know it is a good idea. Isn't there some data on the value somewhere?"

"One meeting"

From the PG:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09337/1018139-53.stm

In a welcome step, the district's panel will observe the open panel today at 4:00. The open panel is expected to evolve into a task force and culminate in a report to the district and the community.

Alternative panel

Yesterday's PG described a panel being formed by the district to address secondary schools in the East End. The district did not announce formation of the panel in advance or release a list of panel members, meeting dates or agenda, and meetings are closed to public observation.

In response, two board members have announced formation of an alternate committee to meet at the same time at district offices. From the PG:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09336/1017757-53.stm

Panel on east end high schools

From the PG, the District has formed a panel to discuss secondary schools in the East End.

http://www.blogger.com/publish-confirmation.g?blogID=49258804305307213&postID=7642411830706491274×tamp=1259666608830&javascriptEnabled=true

Once again the district has not released a list of members of the panel, and meetings are closed to the public. And, formation of the panel was not announced in advance. There seems to be a real fear of broad public awareness of these committees and how they operate.

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