posted August 29, 2008
I don't want to be accused of bringing up a blast from the past issue but I would sincerely like to know what happened to all of the kids that were at Chattanooga Middle when it closed? Where did they go? I was told that these students were rezoned for schools such as Howard, Dalewood, Orchard Knob and Red Bank Middle Schools, three of which are schools such as Chattanooga Middle was.
Failing schools according to no child left behind. The reason why I ask this question is because I had the opportunity to visit Normal Park Upper School recently. I really have to say that the school is beautiful and is a great improvement from what I remember when I was a student there. The volunteers and all the companies that pulled together to make this change possible did an outstanding job.
But here is another question. Why couldn't this happen when the school was in disrepair when it was Chattanooga Middle? Why did it take closing the school and reopening it as another to repair and renovate it? Why were most of the former CMS students rezoned for schools with the same or similar issues as Chattanooga Middle? Why did the students have to be rezoned in the first place? Why couldn't CMS become Normal Park Upper School with the students that were already there?
It seems rather unfair to me that these students weren't given first priority to my knowledge to attend Normal Park Upper School. I am perfectly aware of the test scores, suspension rates etc at CMS when it still existed but was everything done in the elected officials and school officials power to try to improve this school?
If so then maybe closing the school was a good idea but if not then closure of the school in my opinion was not warranted. Parents shouldn't have to "camp out" to get their children in "good" schools. All schools should be "good" schools.
I am in no way taking away from what was done to make Normal Park Upper School a reality. I am just looking for straight honest answers to my questions. Thats all.
Jeremy Finch
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To answer your question... As I was told when I visited the elementary a few years ago to possibly have my daughter attend.."our students normally go on to attend Baylor, McCallie, or GPS."
In other words, now they have a public (private) school to go to because 'those students' were not the right students for the upper school. Or at least they aren't now. Those students were not worth all the money, work, or effort to make CMS a 'good school'. They can make a good argument though. And they will.
My child didn't get in. I was pretty much told that the day I took the tour. But, I could tour the school anyway if I wanted to. The other gentleman that took the tour with me, his child was already in. He and the principal knew one another and talked about some event they had been to in the weeks prior and how his wife had been there already for the tour.
Elaine Cornwell
Chattanooga
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From a parental viewpoint, the conditions that existed at Chattanooga Middle were dismal, dangerous, and required extraordinary rebuilding to fix. I can say this on behalf of my family who has dealt with being zoned for the worst middle school in Hamilton County. I read that there are many things that caused the failing, priority school, at the top of the list is poverty, community apathy, public funding disparity, low academic expectations, and a cycle of failure. The people that rescued this school are heros, not villains.
My seventh grader attends the former Chattanooga Middle with many of the children from last year. To state that all the children had to go to other schools is not a true statement. You have good insight to the existence of priority schools as not an acceptable. To remain silent about this condition would be irresponsible.
Allen Edmonds
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