To attract middle-class parents, St. Louis Public must do more than improve its schools
One example: This letter from Catholic school parent Lawrence Barker, after he read about city students’ very poor rate of access to good public schools.
I’ve edited it for brevity.
Several weeks ago I met Kelvin Adams, the new St. Louis Public Schools superintendant, and Patrick Wallace, his director of communications. Mr. Wallace asked me why our sons, 13 and 10 ½, were not attending St. Louis Public Schools and invited us to tour Metro as a choice for our sons’ high school. We considered his invitation and decided that we will tour it soon because we’ve heard and read good things about Metro.
We (originally) chose not to send our sons to St. Louis Public schools, instead choosing St. Roch (K-8), a Catholic school, even though we’re not Catholic.
St. Roch is essentially a neighborhood school within an easy walk from home. It looks safe, feels safe and I believe is safe. The teachers there are excellent as is their instruction; class sizes are small and local private secondary schools readily and eagerly accept St. Roch 8th grade graduates.
St. Roch happens to fit our family needs on many levels, but there are many other excellent private and parochial school choices in St. Louis.
Your article reminded me that at one time in the history of public schools, neighborhood schools were most common. Parents could feel some sense of ownership of their neighborhood school. They could more easily monitor their children’s progress there and could help out in the classrooms and hallways, further strengthening their sense of ownership.
Why don’t we send our sons to a St. Louis City Public School? Well, where are these schools - how far away from home are they? Are they safe? What are the class sizes? How well do the students test on the Iowa or other standardized tests? In my past inquiries the City schools didn’t measure up to the reasons we chose our neighborhood school.
I hope that, with Dr. Adams in charge and with Arne Duncan, U.S. secretary of education, looking at the St. Louis school system, our public schools will improve. St. Louis needs and deserves good schools.
Mr. Barker’s questions and concerns are EXACTLY why parents ran to be on the school board. But I want parents to know there are schools in SLPS that do fit these requirements, and if other middle class parents want to talk to parents in the district about why we chose them, call the school and ask to talk to a current parent. Perhaps the school in Mr. Barker’s neighborhood didn’t measure up to his wishes, but there are schools that would have.
I also hope our school leaders are noticing that safety and location were mentioned before test scores were. That’s important.
I am a teacher for SLPS and both of my middle school children have attended since Pre-K. We are a white, middle class family who truly believe in a public education. We love the diversity and my children have friends from many cultures and economic backgrounds. You can not get this from many of the private schools. The schools are safe and we have had no problems. The people of St. Louis fail their community by having such a closed-minded view of the schools. Private school can have similar problems as city schools and they under pay their staff. Test should not be the total focus but learning experiences provided daily for children!
Mr. Barker,
Our three children have been in the St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) since kindergarten; two have graduated and are successfully attending the University of Missouri in Columbia and Truman State University. As with any district…We have our issues…(Okay, perhaps we have had a few more issues than most?!?!?!) but overall we have been pleased with our children’s education. We would encourage you to visit the schools. We believe this is where many people fail, by limiting their research/inquiries about the district by never entering a school building…meeting the teachers, meeting the students, experiencing the stmosphere…. By making that visit, we assure you all of your questions would be answered. Our family would be glad to help you research where your neighborhood school is located as a first step, and even make a visit with you. We believe that SLPS have much to offer1…E. Cassmeyer and E. Martinez
Correction to my above post. I changed thought mid sentence and need to correct my statement. I am NOT a SLPS teacher but my wife is. Anyone would be fortunate to have their child in her SLPS Pre-K class. She is one of the best teachers I have known and loves every child that enters her class as unique individuals with very different learning needs and meets each of those needs. She and many others work hard to make city schools wonderful!
We are a middle-class, white family who choose to purchase our home in a lovely city neighborhood accross from a public grade school 12 years ago. We beleive in public education and we had every intention on sending our son to this school and then on to a magnet high school. When he was ready to start school we had witnessed too many disturbing things to risk his education there and started the lottery process for a magnet school. As his intellect started shining through, we were very excited about the prospect of sending him to Metro High School. Six years of trying to get him into a magnet school through the lottery and talking to people at the district, we finally gave up! He is now in high school at St. Mary’s and we have a daughter in 5th grade at Word of Life Lutheran. This is a financial stretch for us, but we are an active, volunteering family and have received so much in return from these schools. We know many families, both black and white that have left their homes in the city because of the schools. We almost moved, but we love the culture of our city.
I wish Dr. Adams or Mr. Wallace would have asked me to tour Metro. I would have been there with bells on!
Ms. Gaertner, if I may ask, were you concentrating on getting into Kennard? Every magnet school in the district has historically had seats unfilled for white students, except Kennard. Families, please know there are other good choices and we, the parents of those schools, would love to show them to you.
This does show the silliness of closing schools instead of duplicating the programs that families obviously want to utilize.
Ms. Wessling:
The first couple of years entering the lottery, I was not even aware of Kenard and chose other magnet schools. The last few times, I chose Kenard and McKinnley first, but choose a back up until my last try. They never had seats for my children.
I agree fully with your statement about closing the schools. As children and parents who want a good education continue to leave the school district maybe they can keep turning the closed schools into the “full service” schools complete with the DJO’s and therapists. My neighbor is a long time principal in the magnet schools and understands the far reaching problems our city schools bring to the whole metro area. If the principals do not send their children to any of the city public schools, why would any conscious parent?
Thanks Ms. Gaertner, for answering. I’m really sorry to hear that and would be curious to know the reasons why the district didn’t let you in, since every year there have been seats sitting empty for white kids, but it’s water under the bridge I suppose. Sigh.
I send my children to city schools and I’m a conscientious parent. But as a friend of mine says, it is work to be a parent in this district. There’s always something that needs doing.
I am a SLPS district employee and have been for 30 years now. My one and only daughter went to a private school from Pre-K through Grade 3. There were no more than 8 students in her classroom through all those grade levels. She visited Farragut Elementary with me one day and saw the abundance of students and decided that she wanted to attend public school. I can truly say that most of her experiences in the district were excellent. Currently she is a successful Junior College student in Washington, D.C. and doing very well. As a matter of fact most of the students that she graduated with are all in their Junior year at various colleges across the country and beyond. That list includes Havard, Howard, Spellman, University of China, Washington University, and Texas A & M. Eight of her classmates have full scholarships. Six of those scholarships were Bill Gates scholarships. Soldan’s class of 2007 got excatly what it needed to be successful from the Saint Louis Public Schools.