Save Schenley High School from being closed

weissjm · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 22

Keep Schenley open

I want to express my disappointment in Mark Roosevelt's vision for restructuring the city district ("City Wants to Open 4 New Schools," Nov. 1). As a 2003 graduate of Schenley High School, I know it as Pittsburgh's most successful magnet high school and one of the only two successfully integrated schools in the city.

Schenley's student body enjoys a diversity of magnet programs found nowhere else in Pittsburgh, including the International Baccalaureate program. IB classes are available to all students, regardless of tracking. These magnets have resulted in diverse upper-level classes in a diverse school.

Mr. Roosevelt's plan to carve up the school into its component parts is a grave mistake. Isolating the IB program in Shadyside will destroy the valuable diversity the program has attained.

Educators know that school atmospheres with high standards can compete with low-standards neighborhood or home environments. This finding makes after-school programming important for younger students.

For Schenley, this high-standards environment consists in location as much as programming. Oakland's college campuses, central library, university theater and arts events are a better -- and cheaper -- enrichment program than any administrator could ask for. Whether or not Schenley's 400-some neighborhood students enroll in IB classes, Oakland's academic culture holds them to high standards.

The board's best move -- in the interest of Pittsburgh's teenagers, broad social perspectives, and students' access to the city's wealth of cultural resources -- is to keep Schenley open and its unique diversity thriving.

LEAH FALK

Somerville, Mass.