So often in Missoula in the last couple of decades a neighborhood school was closed with little information, incorrect information, and in a rushed fashion with little neighborhood involvement.
This is unfortunate as the neighborhood school is the most important part of a content and healthy neighborhood. As a realtor friend said, "The neighborhood school is the "node" of the neighborhood. Or another way of saying it, "The neighborhood school is the heart of the neighborhood".
Some Missoula neighborhoods have dodged the bullet on getting their school closed. Many have not. Rattlesnake schools have unfortunately been the victims of MCPS School Board decisions in the last two decades thus wreaking havoc in our wonderful and historic neighborhood.
When the school district has determined that a neighborhood school needs to be closed, immediately emotions run high. Naturally, the residents do not want the very lifeblood of the neighborhood taken from them. Many voice their opinion against the school closure, however, they fall on deaf ears.
Moreover, the time frame for a school closure is always very tight so that residents are caught off guard and cannot fight the closure effectively. The school Board will always give figures on why the school must be closed, however, they are rarely complete and do not include the whole picture, both in the short term and in the long term.
Neighborhood councils can fill a need when and if a tragic proposal is brought forward by the school district to close a school. The neighborhood council members need to remain steadfast in their support of their school and rally the neighborhood residents to do so as well.
The Rattlesnake has already lost Lincoln School, a school built in approxmately 1912. Ole Bakke, a friend of A.J. Gibson was the architect. It is one of Missoula's most tragic loses. We do not want to lose anymore schools. We do not want to continue to bus our children out of the Rattlesnake.
Prescott School has been in the Rattlesnake since the late 1800's!
In 2004, after the school closures, Prescott was leased to a private school, Missoula International School. Many responsible Trustees have stated that leasing a public school to a private school is not the proper use of a public school building. Taxpayers have paid for the land, the building, and the maintenace for decades for public school children.
We need to make sure that when the lease expires in 2017 that Prescott School returns to use as a public school.
With the above in mind, please contact your neighborhood council members and let them know that you support our neighborhood school, Prescott School, located on Harrison St. in the lower Rattlesnake. Prescott has been many student's, teacher's, and parent's favorite school for more than a century!
Upper Rattlesnake
Location
The Upper Rattlesnake geographic area includes the Rattlesnake Valley north from the north side of Lolo St. Contact your leadership team: Upperrattlesnake@missoula-neighborhoods.org
·
Emily
Plant
·
Rhonda
Holle
·
Susan
Snetsinger
·
Doug
Grimm
·
Caroline
Lonski
·
Max
Andersen
Purpose The Upper Rattlesnake was established to strengthen, encourage, and support neighborhood participation by building opportunities for communication, interaction, and problem solving and by initiating neighborhood projects. |
|
lowerrattlesnake@missoula-neighborhoods.org
Carol Elsen
Mary Ann Davies
Peter Lesica
Joe Glassy
Penny Orwick
Purpose
The Lower Rattlesnake Neighborhood was established to provide a structure for
increased citizen participation in the city and to build cooperation and
improved communication between the city and the citizens. The Neighborhood
Council builds opportunities for neighborhood communication,
neighborhood-initiated projects, interaction, and problem solving.
Information on the Neighborhood Councils above was gleaned from the Missoula City website.
No comments:
Post a Comment