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Families have flocked to my NE Portland neighborhood over the past 10 years, and the high quality schools are a key reason.  Every weekend we see flotillas of strollers and young children, and our kindergarten classes are now bursting at the seams.  Yet the district is considering potentially closing our high school as a neighborhood school.  Currently, our high school is ranked as one of the most successful schools in the district.  Parents in our neighborhood are understandably angry that the district is considering taking something that works very well, and dismantling it. 

Families have invested in their properties, whose values are partially determined by their location within the high school boundary.  Families have invested their own money and time in our school system, through fundraising and volunteering.  Our neighborhood high school is a community focal point -- for recreation, community events, school sports events, and education.  Most students can safely walk or bike to the high school from within the boundary.   The school is successfully educating a large population of students every year -- something many urban schools elsewhere have struggled to accomplish.  Why not build on that success, rather than destroying the example in order to attempt to replicate its success elsewhere?

posted 3 years, 2 months ago
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