APS Redistricting: Summerhill Favors Final Plan

Editor's note: The Organized Neighbors of Summerhill supports the developed by Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr. This is the letter ONA sent to district officials, which it shared with East Atlanta Patch.

To: Superintendent Erroll Davis and the Atlanta Board of Education

The Summerhill community wholeheartedly supports Atlanta Public Schools final demographic map and recommendations that were released on March 31, 2012. We request that the Atlanta Board of Education vote to approve the recommendations on Tuesday, April 10, 2012.

We believe the recommendation to zone Summerhill to Parkside, will meet the needs of our children and families that have been displaced by the closure of Ed Cook Elementary. This is a phenomenal opportunity for our children. Parkside Elementary provides an enriching, educational experience.

We are pleased to see that the district is committed to implementing an IB program at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. This will complement the current IB program at Maynard Jackson High School. Also, we agree with your architectural critique of Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School—the learning environment is a critical component of education. We are excited about the $40 million renovation at Maynard Jackson High School, and anticipate that the improvements will be a step toward building a great high school. We know that leadership at our schools, in the Jackson cluster, is the key to the clusters success. We would like the community to aid in the selection process of new principals for both King and Jackson. We believe both principals should have a clear track record of academic success. They should have experience working with both corporate and community partners in an effective way. They should be dynamic and excited about teaching teachers to teach and teaching children to learn. We are enthusiastic about supporting the students of the Jackson Cluster now and in the future.

We are sincerely grateful that you and your team heard our requests for quality schools for our small but historically significant neighborhood. We believe that the future is bright for the children of Summerhill and all the children in the Atlanta Public Schools system.

Regards,

Josh Murtha

President
The Organized Neighbors of Summerhill