DEAR EDITOR:
Add me to the list of parents who are deeply disappointed with
the downfall of the Slingerland program. After a week of reading
the initial reporting of the Eliot School attendance lowering and
reading the responses from many parents, I feel the need to speak
out.
DEAR EDITOR:
Add me to the list of parents who are deeply disappointed with the downfall of the Slingerland program. After a week of reading the initial reporting of the Eliot School attendance lowering and reading the responses from many parents, I feel the need to speak out. But I also have a response from a former student at the school; my daughter Ariel. She is now a seventh grader at Monte Vista with a 3.83 grade average (hardly a learning disability there) and when I showed her the newspaper about Eliot last week she was deeply saddened. She told me “Mom, that was the best school I ever went to; I learned so much there. I hope they don’t close it down, or at least put the teachers in the other schools so they can help the other kids.” Out of the mouths of babes.
I have another conclusion as to why parents didn’t enroll their children into Eliot. Shame and fear. I can’t tell you how many times people raised their eyebrows at me when I told them my daughter was going to that school. They always assumed it was because of some HUGE disability. On the contrary, many children that attend Eliot are very intelligent children, they just need to work their little brains in a more controlled way. Using the five senses of our bodies is the way we all learn. That is what Slingerland is all about, not putting children in a box and expecting everyone to learn the exact same way. Just as adults are all different; so are your children. You are doing a great disservice to them by keeping them out of a school that you don’t think measures up to society standards.
The fear I know was the second question everyone always asked me, “Aren’t you afraid of sending her to the bad part of town?” In the three years we attended Eliot, we only had one incident that required the police to intervene in front of the school, and it happened while the children were in class so they didn’t even know what was going on. It was as safe as any school in town. I think Superintendent Edwin Diaz should think more about implementing this program into the 1st and 2nd grade levels of every school in Gilroy while the children are still young and ready to learn. It is well worth the money of putting these teachers (who by the way are angels in my book) through the program and getting our school stats up to date don’t you think?
Phylis Mantelli, Gilroy
Submitted Monday, March 3 to ed****@ga****.com
The Golden Quill is awarded occasionally for a well-written letter.
