I was talking with a neighbor the other day about middle school.
She has two children who attend Luigi Aprea, one a fifth grader,
the other a sixth grader.
I was talking with a neighbor the other day about middle school. She has two children who attend Luigi Aprea, one a fifth grader, the other a sixth grader. She was telling me that she thought they would be attending the new middle school next year, since it is in close proximity to where we live.
She was totally surprised by the prospect that her children will be in two different middle schools next year. Next year, Ascension Solarsano is scheduled to open as Gilroy’s newest middle school. But it won’t really be a middle school at all.
It will house some sixth graders, but also house the children who currently attend Eliot School.
They will attend Solarsano while their school is being rebuilt. I have no qualms with the temporary placement of Eliot students and staff at the new site. I have major concerns with taking current fifth grade students and putting them at a site which will not really be a middle school until Eliot School is rebuilt.
My son is a fifth grader at Rucker this year. What is the point of taking him out of a K-6 environment, only to have him in another K-6 environment?
My neighbor faces a far worse prospect. If her attendance area is Solarsano, she will have a daughter starting at the new school while she has the added bonus of having to transport her son across town to South Valley.
Does anyone at the district think ahead? Why are we rushing fifth graders out of schools which can house them next year when we don’t have a plan in place for a third middle school for September 2003?
If you are a parent of a sixth grader at Luigi Aprea or Rucker, there is no chance that your child will attend the new middle school, unless they don’t get promoted to seventh grade.
If you are the parent of a fifth grader at any elementary school in Gilroy, you might worry about the availability at Solarsano of middle school programs which are currently offered at Brownell and South Valley.
Will there be a band program? What about choir or Spanish? What kind of athletic program can be supported by a school of sixth graders? Will there even be a track team or a basketball team? A yearbook?
While I think the district is capable of coming up with an equitable program, I don’t believe it is possible to provide equity by August at Solarsano for those students who will form the skeleton crew of the school.
Perhaps the best plan would be to delay the start of middle school at Solarsano until the new Eliot building is ready and the campus is ready to house a population of middle school students. Rucker parents are equally concerned about the future of their school.
Rucker currently has about 520 students. In June, over 150 of them are slated to leave the campus. Next year, they will get between 30 and 40 kindergarten students under the current attendance area of the school.
Another 10 to 20 students may transfer into Rucker under the GATE program. That means that next year, Rucker school will house between 400 and 430 students.
History has shown us that our school district does not support the smaller elementary school. I am not alone in worrying about the future of this historic school.
On a holiday note, I spent last Sunday evening gathered around the alter at St. Mary’s Church, singing Christmas carols with my fellow parishioners.
Despite the efforts of Pastor Dan Derry, most of us were able to keep up the rhythm. This tree lighting at St. Mary’s should become an annual tradition.
We sung together, alternating between English and Spanish songs, and a great time was had by all.
An added bonus was a little booklet of Christmas carols they distributed to all.
I am planning on using that booklet over the next week, as I try to convince my children and their friends the joys of random caroling.
If you don’t see me wandering the streets, doing my best to carry a tune, I wish all my Gilroy neighbors and friends a safe and peaceful holiday.
