By Carol Hale
Shady streets. Restored Victorian-era homes. People walking with their dogs and families. This is my neighborhood. It is bounded by Front, Division, Union and Fourteenth. Its centerpiece is the red brick Central Grade School.
Central served this community as a junior and senior high school, in addition to a grade school, since before the 20th century. It has also served as a community resource with Lars Hockstad Auditorium and two gymnasiums. Presently, Central Grade School programs include a Montessori school, the Talented and Gifted Program and a traditional neighborhood school program.
At a meeting held on May 27, 2006, Jim Feil, the superintendent of TCAPS, and his assistant Dr. David Dean met with neighbors and parents to respond to rumors about the future of these programs at Central. Essentially they said that TCAPS would hire a consultant to determine that future.
My neighborhood is enjoying a renaissance with the influx of young families with children. These newcomers, I know, never thought that their neighborhood school would be in jeopardy. And, yet, that is the feeling after the meeting.
I would encourage the City Commission to take a more active position in stating that neighborhood schools are an integral part of a healthy city. We know that the positioning of schools and programs may lead to urban sprawl. Certainly, we as a community can see the reality of this assertion with the growth of the suburban areas east and west of town - near West Senior High and East Junior High -- and the increase of traffic and development that supports these new facilities.
As one who believes in the goals of the City Master Plan, I am convinced that an aggressive endorsement of neighborhood elementary schools is of great importance to the Traverse City community.
A neighborhood school gives a sense of place to any neighborhood. It is a place of coming together, of identity for families, young and old, and their children. To lose your neighborhood school is to lose your identity, to lose your community personality.
Carol Hale served for 16 years on the City Commission of Traverse City, including a year as mayor in 1983.
