LETTER: WIndham Parent Supports New School

The following is a letter to the editor. To submit your own, email michael.ryan@patch.com

The following letter was submitted by a parent in the Windham School District:

Dear Windham Citizens,

Windham parents undoubtedly share a few important and constant goals for our children: We want them safe. We want them happy. We want them educated. 

The constant here is wanting what is best; wanting what will guarantee the success of our children. The key to that constant lies squarely on the shoulders of our school systems.

As voters, we hold that key. 

Windham is a desirable place to live. A population increase of over 13% in the last decade doesn’t lie. But, that increase comes with a price. Our first through eighth grades are over crowded. Though our student/teacher ratios remain passable, what doesn’t is our space to provide the other critical ingredients towards the education of our children. Music and Art at Golden Brook Elementary no longer have dedicated space. The teachers teach from a cart that they push from room to room. This is a detriment to the learning going on in adjacent classes (imagine your child working on a math problem while behind an accordion divider 20 other elementary schoolers are learning to play recorder). Children with special education needs are tutored in the halls. The stairwell. 

Forget about the ratios-think about the environment.

Some will argue that it is not about the facility, it is about the educator. That’s true-to a point. Not even the best teacher can provide the type of education our children deserve in a school that is grossly overcrowded. Currently, grades 1-8 are over capacity by over 700 students and Windham is expected to keep growing.

Even the best and most gifted teachers can only provide so much movement in one classroom. Imagine for a moment working in the same room for 6 hours with only a 20 minute break for lunch. I imagine many of us do do just that. Can you focus on a task for that long without a change of scenery?

I’m not sure a 7 year old could.

Many of us know that the construction of a new 7/8^th grade on London Bridge Road comes at a cost. Many of us have lived in Windham for a long time and are wary of the impact on our wallets. 

Many of us want to wait. 

I’m not sure that our children have time for that. Go ask the middle schooler doing a science experiment on a hot plate.

The building of the 7/8^th grade is not superfluous. It would give our 1^st graders back dedicated music and art rooms. Our 3-5^th graders could once again see the possibility of a World Language curriculum. Our middle schoolers would hope to benefit from the reintroduction of programs such as Reading Success and Specialized Enrichment. Construction of a new building would also give our 6-8^th graders appropriate science labs, technical education and Family and Consumer Sciences (which are necessary for an approved middle school curriculum and would therefore allow our Middle School to seek reapproval).

I might argue that our high schoolers, of whom we are so proud, have seen success because the very programs that have been eliminated due to a lack of space, were available to them in grades 1-8.

I support building a new 7/8^th grade facility on London Bridge Road and will be voting yes on March 12^th.

Because it matters.

Because it resonates.

Because this is news that should bring people together.

Responsibly,

A Windham Parent