Green Playspace Music Video

Hello all,

We've put together a short music video commemorating the grand opening of the green play area on September 5, 2008. Hope you enjoy it.

Ready Or Not: Board to Vote on Redistricting

Click here to go to the original article from the Stamford Advocate-9/22/08

STAMFORD - As parents protest, the Board of Education is preparing to vote Tuesday on a plan that will redraw attendance zones for Stamford's 12 elementary schools.

"You have to be brave to do redistricting," said Polly Rauh, a former educator who heads the Education Committee of the Board of Representatives, and a critic of the plan.

The vote could end a protracted effort to bring the student bodies of schools into a socioeconomic balance close to that of the district. The effort began 18 months ago, resulting in a decision to move students from Rogers Magnet Elementary to a largely state-funded magnet school under construction in the Cove.

At the first of two public hearings held Sept. 9, parents from Northeast Elementary School's district, north and east of High Ridge Road, opposed a plan to send those children to Davenport Ridge Elementary School. They have collected about 400 signatures objecting to the move.

Lisa Walker, the parent of a fourth-grader at Northeast, contacted board members asking them to leave her neighborhood alone. "What I would hope is there are enough arguments made and enough dissent that they will minimally postpone it," she said.

The central office Friday released an analysis of the potential effect of removing her neighborhood from the plan, along with other possible changes.

The same day, several board members said they needed more information before deciding.

"Certainly, I have questions," board member Julia Wade said. "I don't know if all the board members are comfortable with the timetable."

Wade said her decision would depend on data from central office and discussion Tuesday.

Board member James Rubino said he favored the first of the four options and was ready to vote.

"I don't want to substantially deviate from any plans," he said.

Modifying a plan would mean extending the public comment period, he said.

Board member Ed Mathews said he was uncomfortable proceeding because a decision should wait for the final enrollment numbers due Oct. 1.

The redistricting proposals drawn up by Superintendent Joshua Starr's staff take into account the accuracy of enrollment projections, student retention and state projections for future enrollment. But the numbers are based on enrollment counts from Oct. 1, 2007.

For example, K.T. Murphy School's bilingual program - which could be moved to Northeast - had about 105 students last year, according to Starr's office. But this year, school administrators estimate that 80 students are enrolled.

Acknowledging that tabulations of the number of disadvantaged students in each school will change, Starr has held his options to a narrow 5 percent margin near the district average of 48 percent disadvantaged students. That should delay the need to redistrict again, Starr said.

A board rule requires that each school have a socioeconomic balance within 10 percentage points of the district average for elementary schools. The standard is stricter than the state's 25 percent requirement. But the rule is based on the racial, not socioeconomic, makeup of a school.

Gary Orfield, a professor of education at the University of California at Los Angeles, said board members would do well to make a swift final decision. Consensus on a redistricting plan will not happen, Orfield said.

"Have an open discussion and give a rationale about why it's being done and answer the questions and make a decision and then stick to it," he said. "After a certain amount, it just gets worse. People from one neighborhood get mobilized, and people from another neighborhood get mobilized, and it just spirals."

- Staff Writer Wynne Parry can be reached at 964-2263 or wynne.parry@scni.com.

Letter to the Redistricting Committee

This is a letter Danette Melchionne has written to the BOE Redistricting Committee concerning options 1and 2, and their likely ramifications on the bilingual program. Please feel free to comment below and add your voice to the conversation.


To the Redistricting Committee:

I would like to first acknowledge all the countless hours and hard work that is being put into the redistricting of the Stamford Schools. I’m the first one on board with the need for redistricting. It is very much needed amongst all the schools. I realize the entire process is going to be disheartening to many families and some of the changes are unavoidable, which makes this task difficult for everyone involved. My children fortunately will not be directly impacted in the changes but will be indirectly.

My one main concern is with Options 1 & 2 which both propose “moving” the bilingual program from KT Murphy to Northeast.

What happens to the families that opt not to participate in the bilingual program?

Due to the location of the program it creates the following cascading issues:

· Many of the bilingual parents walk their children to school. If moved, this would create the inability to get to their child if needed, or to be able to attend any type of meeting, events or programs.

· Faced with this concern as a bilingual parent it is inevitable that those same families that would otherwise enroll their children in the bilingual program will therefore enroll in the English program at Murphy.

As a result this will not only hinder the bilingual students learning capabilities, but will impact the teachers, other students, and test scores. KT Murphy and the City of Stamford employ some great administrators, teachers and staff, but we are setting those exceptional educators up for failure. They are not equipped or prepared to effectively address additional learning needs that will be required with the Spanish speaking students that do enroll in the English based programming due to the demographics.

Bottom line: moving the bilingual program in its entirety is not going to address the current overcrowding in the school, disadvantaged population or improve test scores.

I know you all have spent countless hours on the 4 options proposed. I hope you please take my above concerns in consideration when preparing for your final vote.

In summary on behalf of KT Murphy:

· Yes we need redistricting.

· Yes we need to address overcrowding.

· Yes we need to address balancing the disadvantaged population.

· Yes we need to improve our test scores.

· Yes this will breakup up a “community”.

· Yes offer dual programming at KT Murphy. The program and teachers are there. It works. Why recreate something that is currently working?

· NONE of this will be achieved by moving the bilingual program in its entirety to the complete opposite end of Stamford. I work on Summer Street and reside in the Cove. It takes me over a ½ hour each way some days to get to and from work. I can’t imagine a student sitting on a bus for longer than my simple commute. Let’s put that 1 plus each day to better use, with programming or study time. Options 1 & 2 also increase walkers into riders which as we all know is $$ that can put towards teachers, programming, etc.

Thank you for your time and I hope you will please review and take my above concerns into consideration when you make your final vote on Tuesday evening. I trust you will make the right choice for the future of KTM students and for all the Stamford Schools.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.


Regards.



Danette Melchionne

Stamford Advocate Covers Our Green Space Opening

This article on the opening of our green space play area was published by the Advocate on September 9, 2008. We're re-posting it here for posterity. If you'd like to read it on the Advocate site, click here.


Ex-K.T. Murphy Students see their dream come true

By Wynne Parry
Staff Writer
Article Launched: 09/09/2008 02:40:37 AM EDT

STAMFORD - When a horde of kindergartners and first-graders from K.T. Murphy Elementary School rushed through a snipped ribbon into a new playground on George Street last week, a 9-year-old dream came true.

But the students who advocated for the patch of grass with slides and a climbing wall hung back. Now seniors in high school, their playground days are over.

Steven Totino, a senior at Westhill High School, said he doubted the day would come. As a third-grader at K.T. Murphy, he and others sought green space for the school, which had none.

"I remember just playing on all concrete - kickball, basketball," Totino said.

In 1999, while drafting its 20-year master plan, the city asked students to help. Third-graders at K.T. Murphy suggested the city purchase property adjacent to the school, making their case before the Planning Board in 2000, said Robin Stein, land use bureau chief.

"I did it for my teacher. I wanted to do it because I was with my friends," said former K.T. Murphy student Christopher Festa, now a senior at Westhill.

Nothing happened until 2006, when the homeowner at 44 George St. remembered the students' appeal when he decided to sell his 0.16-acre property.

To make their case for appropriating the $650,000 to buy the property, some of the original students went before the Board of Finance and the Board of Representatives.

Totino doesn't remember the initial presentation from third grade, but he remembers going before the elected boards two years ago.

"I was nervous speaking, but I was glad I did," he said.

The ribbon-cutting Friday marked the first time children were allowed onto the new playground.

"This is one of the highlights of my career. It is an example of what our youth can accomplish," Stein said during a presentation.

He had hoped to invite the homeowner, Jack Thorme, but was unable to find him, Stein said.

- Staff Writer Wynne Parry can be reached at 964-2263 or wynne.parry@scni.com.