I would love to hear from other parents if they think that this move by CPS would be in the best interest of their child?
I am a parent of a 1st grader at a small CPS school. This close knit school has one class of approx.30 kids per grade level. The building they are in houses the 285 kids in tight but comfortable quarters with a field and playlot which our PTO purchased. After a year at this school, my daughter knows most of the kids by name who she sees roaming the one long hallway. This school is k-8 but each 7th grader is paired with a 1st grader and each 8th grader is paired with a kindergardener so the little kids know the older kids and are connected to them as buddys. This school is one of the top performers academically in the state and there are rarely any problems with bad behavior or bullying as these kids know each other personally and the school behavior and dress code policies are followed by everyone. It is a parents dream.
Now CPS is stepping in and wants to relocate our school into another building in a different part of the city with a middle school of 300 7 & 8th graders who have no connection to our school or our small children. They will be sharing all parts of the building which is meant for 1000 students so they could end up with 600 middle schoolers there at some point as the middle school enrollment could increase. They will have their own policies and rules, no playlot, no playfield, only a fence to keep our little kids from getting hit by cars on the crowded streets feet from the doors. there are metal detectors for security and police presence.
This feels like a recipe for disaster. CPS is taking away our green space and our small-school feel that we have worked so hard to cultivate for our children. Can anyone site a situation where it is good to put small children into a middle school setting? I cannot see in any way how this could possibly be in any small child's best interest. My 6 yr old is not ready for junior high socialization where she will be surrounded in the halls by hundreds of teens. I am really upset about this and would love someone to show me the positives here? NONE of our families want this move to happen.
I am leaving out my schools name as it is beside the point. The situation the CPS is putting our students into is shameful.Would you let CPS do this to your child?