The Emporia Gazette

Closing Admire School

Um...all I can say is WTF? Do you really think I meant that Reading kids have to stand in a hallway?? Did it never cross your mind that maybe I meant that there were two separate hallways of CLASSROOMS for each section of the elementary?? Please, please, please - tell me you are joking.
Good luck, Blessings4u, but you are on your own now. I am going to go beat my head into a wall. It will probably be more productive than anything that comes out of this.

February 15, 2010 at 11:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Closing Admire School

"Melissa Garrison-how do you stay so calm and collected in such a problematic situation?"

Sometimes I like to let my brain think faster than my fingers. :)

Hamilton went through the same problem, but they did not close down and send their kids to Madison or Eureka. They consolidated all of their sports with Madison and went to a 4-day week. They probably have as many students in their K-12 as Reading has in their K-8. I once attended a graduation where there were FOUR people in their senior class. Four! Maybe we should hire their people to come help us out - because if Hamilton can stay open, anyone can.

There's not much I can say that I or someone else hasn't already said, but... Space at Reading isn't an issue. They are neither too big or too small. There is a hallway for the younger kids and a hallway for the older kids. The gym is large with stadium seating, the kitchen is much bigger than the one at Heights, and there is a cafeteria. We all know enrollment is down; so if you combine the students from Admire with the students at Reading, it would just make normal size classes. I feel that the numbers would even out across the district, instead of cramming a bunch of students at Americus and being okay with losing 40 kids to other districts. I picture it like trying to shove too much of something into one box...some pieces fall out, but apparently that's okay because then there's room for whatever else fits in the box. Two boxes.. that's all I'm saying..

February 14, 2010 at 8:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Closing Admire School

sandman - I agree that with only 60 students from both schools heading to Americus that yes, it is a workable number. I just can't help but wonder if the district would not be losing that many kids if Reading were allowed to remain a K-8.

I actually feel sorry for Mr. Nulton because as the "new guy" he is taking all the blame. Just because I don't agree with the decision of the board doesn't mean I don't respect them. Most of them are parents of my friends and classmates. They had a tough decision to make and... "You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not please all of the people all of the time."

Not to mention the extremely cruel, and may I say inappropriate, political cartoon the Gazette published personally attacking Mr. Nulton. If I were him, I would have said to heck with all of you - and found a place to work where the neighboring town's newspaper has better things to do than draw pictures depicting a new superintendent as an evil duck. Seriously.

February 12, 2010 at 8:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Closing Admire School

sandman: "If my understanding is correct, there are 46 students total in the Jr. High in Admire,grades 6 thru 8, therefore not speaking concerning 'masses.' If they put the 5th grade students back into the elementary in Americus, guess what? Room available for the 46."

What about the junior high students from Reading??

February 12, 2010 at 3:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Admire School to close

Blessings4u - I TOTALLY AGREE!! :)

February 11, 2010 at 1:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Admire School to close

And Ladibug - I understand what you're saying about the sports. I was just trying to point out that there are many small costs associated with accomodating the change, as esugrad pointed out as well. And you are right, how many of these kids will make it to the big leagues? For many, junior high and high school may be their only chance to be part of a team.

I was just curious as to how some of the changes would affect other things. I don't feel it's a waste of time to discuss this.

February 10, 2010 at 1:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Admire School to close

NLCPride, although I find your comment to be rather rude, and as I pointed out, I am not looking for an arguement - It is not a question about the quality of education. The schools are in the same district; they are all on the same level of quality of education. So yes, what is comes down to is a matter of convenience.

And by the way, I graduated from Reading in 2003 and Northern Heights in 2007, so I, too, have NLC Pride. :)

February 10, 2010 at 1:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Admire School to close

*one set of the uniforms/accessories are not going to be useful.

Sorry, typo!

February 10, 2010 at 11:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Admire School to close

"I'm not sure why everybody is worried about how many kids are going to the Americus school........according to some people 40-60 kids are leaving the district. So there should be plenty of room then. See how things work themselves out?"

Maybe if Reading was staying a K-8, then the district would not be losing those kids. Of the comments that I have heard, people are pulling their children from 251 because their children would have to eventually transfer to Americus. I have nothing against Americus; I just feel it is an extremely inconvenient plan for parents and children at Reading and Admire.

Also, regardless of which colors/mascot the district takes on, one set of the uniforms/accessories are going to not going to be useful. If they change the Indians to the Jr. Cats, then Americus colors/uniforms are no longer valid; if the Jr. Cats change to Indians; then Reading/Admire colors/uniforms are no longer valid. It is not the point of *which* mascot they are picking - what I am saying is that it will cost money either way.

February 10, 2010 at 11:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Admire School to close

I'll try to make this concise. I feel that it would have been a better choice to combine Admire and Reading into a K-8 and leave Americus as is. This is kind of what I was thinking...

Sports - Admire and Reading have already combined their sports teams, which means they have already purchased uniforms for all of the student athletes. When Admire/Reading students are sent to Americus, the new uniforms will most likely be discarded and more Americus uniforms will need to be purchased for the incoming players. How much will that cost? Basketball, volleyball, cheerleading - the small costs are going to add up.

Affects on both towns - It sucks that Admire is closing in the first place. But it seems that Reading is being punished, too. People are going to pull their children from the district, and I can't blame them. And what would attract new families to Reading? Certainly not a K-5 school. The families living in Reading are going to be stuck there. This is affecting property value. To put it bluntly, Reading is getting screwed over, too.

Space - When all 6-8 students are combined at Americus, that will be 3/4 the size of Heights in the Junior High alone. When you add on the number of Americus students in K-5, there will be more students at Americus than at Heights. Does Americus have enough lockers and classroom space to accomodate all of those students? What about meals for breakfast and lunch?

Bus Routes - With the new plan, there will be buses going to and from Reading, to and from Admire, to and from Americus, and to and from Heights. If there were just the 2 K-8, Reading kids would only need to go to Heights, not to Americus. If I were an Admire parent with children in grades, say, 3rd and 6th, why would I send my 3rd grader to Reading and my 6th grader to Americus? Wouldn't it make more sense to send both children to Americus?

I am not looking for an argument, but if anyone can provide additional information or answer these questions, I would love to hear it.

February 9, 2010 at 9:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )