Comments on: Discussing school closings, District 3 attempts dialog http://insideschools.org/blog/2008/12/22/discussing-school-closings-district-3-attempts-dialog/ Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:34:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: crystal http://insideschools.org/blog/2008/12/22/discussing-school-closings-district-3-attempts-dialog/#comment-5145 crystal Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:15:00 +0000 http://insideschools.org/blog/2008/12/22/discussing-school-closings-district-3-attempts-dialog/#comment-5145 Why do you feel the need to describe them as "project kids" Why do you feel the need to describe them as “project kids”

]]> By: Roberta http://insideschools.org/blog/2008/12/22/discussing-school-closings-district-3-attempts-dialog/#comment-5114 Roberta Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:21:17 +0000 http://insideschools.org/blog/2008/12/22/discussing-school-closings-district-3-attempts-dialog/#comment-5114 My daughter goes to a very diverse middle school--M.A.T., the upper division of PS126, where the Lower East Side meets immigrant Chinatown. The school mixes 3 populations: Chinese immigrant kids from the neighborhood; project kids who went to the elementary school, mostly Latino; and middle-class-and-above kids from various upscale schools in District 2, especially PS234 and PS150 in Tribeca. I only wish parents elsewhere in the city could see the benefits of a demographic mix in their kids' school that comes much closer to matching the demographic mix of the city than many schools that pride themselves on the "giftedness" of their students. Sure, it's a tougher crowd than some other middle schools, but it's a rich mix and each group learns from the others. My daughter goes to a very diverse middle school–M.A.T., the upper division of PS126, where the Lower East Side meets immigrant Chinatown. The school mixes 3 populations: Chinese immigrant kids from the neighborhood; project kids who went to the elementary school, mostly Latino; and middle-class-and-above kids from various upscale schools in District 2, especially PS234 and PS150 in Tribeca.

I only wish parents elsewhere in the city could see the benefits of a demographic mix in their kids’ school that comes much closer to matching the demographic mix of the city than many schools that pride themselves on the “giftedness” of their students. Sure, it’s a tougher crowd than some other middle schools, but it’s a rich mix and each group learns from the others.

]]>