Show your support for Madison Elementary School – our neighborhood school.
The next two years could be difficult for students, families, and staff at Madison Elementary School.
If no changes are made the Olympia School District is will cut one of Madison’s seven classroom teachers next year and another classroom teacher the following year.
Why?
Falling student enrollment is the simple answer. The school district plans to cut the number of teachers to match the falling number of students in grades K-5 enrolled at Madison. There are fewer children living in Madison’s service area now than in past years.
Why is losing a teacher a problem?
Madison is already a small school – it has become too small. Losing one of the 7 classroom teachers will make it more demanding and difficult for the remaining 6 teachers to effectively teach all of our students and run the school at the same time.
It is the threat of losing one of our seven teachers that has made the Madison community willing to stand up and ask for changes – changes that will make Madison a sustainable small school that serves our students well. The Madison community is asking for more students – enough students to fill most of the empty classrooms in its recently constructed building.
Show your support for Madison Elementary Schoo
Think about a few things and write them down:
- What do you value about Madison school, it’s location, programs, education, and activities, etc.
- What concerns would if the school were to change in some way.
- What hopes would you have for our local neighborhood elementary school?
*Send those ideas to Bonnie Guyer Graham at [email protected]
What else can you do?
Come to the next Eastside Neighborhood Potluck in March and talk with other neighbors to share your concerns.
Who is Bonnie Guyer Graham? Bonnie is a long-time parent at the school and someone who has lived in this neighborhood for over 12 years. Bonnie is a parent volunteer, and works with other parents and staff on to help increase family and community involvement at the school as part of the Madison Action Team .
Questions or comments?
Please send your questions and comments to Bonnie at [email protected] rather than to the Olympia School District at this time. Bonnie will be happy to talk with you about any questions you might have. We at Madison are trying to gather input from a variety of our school’s neighbors and friends and see what they have in common.
We are hoping to use this collection of hopes and concerns to amplify the relatively small voice that the small number of Madison families and staff can muster.
Link to a related news article:
At this time it is apparent the Olympia School District does not realize there are empty classrooms at Madison Elementary and that it is necessary to act to fill that empty space and to improve learning opportunities at Madison. Here is an excerpt from the Olympian article on March 2nd.
Where to build schools?
Olympia: East side crowded, while west has empty space, session hears
The lopsided growth of Olympia’s population has resulted in schools that are at or nearing capacity on the east side and schools on the west side with room to grow…
Lahmann noted that districts get state funding to build new schools only when existing schools exceed capacity, which is imminent for some of the district’s east side schools.
To see the full article: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/03/02/1157163/where-to-build-schools.html
