Transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools

Part One

Building Usage:  School Closings and Repurposing

Transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools should be a two-part endeavor, involving

 

1)  building usage, necessitating combining, closing, or repurposing school buildings;

 

and 

2)  overhauling curriculum for knowledge intensity and the training of teachers capable of imparting  knowledge-intensive curriculum.

The following figures and discussion focus on Part One, Transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools:  Building Usage.

 

Schools to Consider for Closing or Repurposing

The following groups of schools should considered together, so as to close or repurpose one or more schools in each group.

Figures given parenthetically are for the ratio of enrollment to student capacity, followed by percentage of enrollment to capacity.

 

Elementary Schools

 

North Minneapolis

 

Cityview (167:712)                                                    >>>>>   24%

Nellie Stone Johnson (176:713)                             >>>>>   25%

Hmong International Academy (233:751)         >>>>>   31%

Lucy Craft Laney (311:711)                                    >>>>>   41%

 

 

Hall (173:489)                                                            >>>>>   36%

Bethune (246:519)                                                    >>>>>   47%

Bryn Mawr (349:580)                                              >>>>>   53%

 

Note  >>>>>

The figures for Jenny Lind (248: 535;  46%) also require consideration. but the location of the school in the far northern part of North Minneapolis represents a challenge, since Loring Elementary (292: 373;  73%), also in the northern portion of North Minneapolis is operating much closer to capacity.

 

 

South Minneapolis

Folwell (319:863)                                                       >>>>>   37%

Bancroft (365:665)                                                    >>>>>   53%

Hale (316: 539)                                                           >>>>>   59%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

Folwell and Bancroft are located closer to each other and represent the more likely pair for reduction to one school.

 

Uptown/Southwest Minneapolis

Lyndale (233:631)                                                      >>>>>   37%

Kenwood (380:731)                                                   >>>>>   52%

 

Middle and K-8 Schools

North Minneapolis

 

Anwatin (321: 807)                                                    >>>>>   40%

Franklin (288: 655)                                                    >>>>>   44%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

The figures for Olson (362: 605;  60%) also require consideration, but the location of the school in the far northern part of North Minneapolis represents a challenge, since Olson is not very close to any other middle school on the Northside.

 

Northeast and South Minneapolis

Northeast (506: 936)                                                 >>>>>   54%

Anderson (877: 1,530)                                              >>>>>   49%

Sullivan (599: 1,230)                                                 >>>>>   60%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

These schools pose geographical and numerical challenges, so that combining the student populations or repurposing the schools will require considerable creativity.

 

High Schools

North and Northeast Minneapolis

 

North (506: 1,678)                                                     >>>>>   30%

Camden (857: 1,414)                                                 >>>>>   61%

Edison (897: 1,395)                                                    >>>>>   64%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

These schools pose geographical, numerical, and political challenges, so that combining the student populations or repurposing the schools will require considerable creativity, a creativity that should be exercised, given overall inefficient usage.  

 

South and Southwest Minneapolis

 

Roosevelt (1,048: 2,051)                                          >>>>>   51%

 

Note  >>>>>

 

Roosevelt poses a challenge for repurposing, given that other South and Southwest high schools have relatively high enrollment to capacity ratios, as follows:  South (1,464: 2,072;  71%);  Southwest (1,484:  2092;  71%), Washburn (1,582:  1,730;  82%).

 

The solution in the case of Roosevelt could be to maintain student enrollment while thoughtfully reconfiguring usage so as to lease unused space, ideally to agencies offering services consistent with student needs.

 

Also, consideration of other geographically, politically, and numerically awkward situations could entail thoughtful reconfiguration of some buildings to house both middle school and high school student. populations.

 

Bounteous Gratitude at the Occasion of Thanksgiving 2024

To

Divine Providence

I extend

my bounteous gratitude

at Thanksgiving 2024

 

for

 

the stroke of independence

and connection to Divinity

with which I was blessed

from at least age ten;

 

parental and grandparental

presences of

strength,

love,

humor,

zest

for

Life;

 

the gifts of

reading,

thought,

debate,

and productive response

to formal education at

Memorial High,

Southern Methodist University,

University of Iowa,

University of Minnesota;

 

the stroke of

good fortune

bestowed with

the decision

to teach students

living at the

urban core;

with opportunities

along the way

to teach also

in a prison,

In Taiwan,

in Mandarin,

as an assistant  

at the

University of Iowa,

as an instructor

at the

University of Minnesota

and

St. Olaf College;

 

the inspiration to

launch the

New Salem Educational Initiative

In 1993;   

to extend my

public education

activism

to a ten-year

investigation

into the inner workings

of the

Minneapolis Public Schools;

and for my many

platforms of

advocacy.

     

Nature:

sky,

sun,

moon,

stars,

seasons:

cold

heat,

stinging wind,

warm-hugging wind

sweet scents

teaming variety

of

botanical

and

zoological

Life;

 

an abundance of

humanity the

Good

to counter bountiful

humanity the  

Bad,

and thus for

Dennis,

Jerel,

Ted,

Judy,

Rev. Deborah,

Rev. McAfee,  

Rochelle,

the hundreds

of students

and families

who have graced my

Life;

 

that moment when

I looked into Barbara’s eyes

before we knew

what we came

to know:

 

that

Divinity

had bestowed

singular treasure

in  

Perfect Love.

 

I could type into eternity

giving grateful account

of the

Exquisite Fortune

that is my

Life.     

 

But I will conclude

with the

summative event,

eternity’s surrogate,

of your arrival,

Beloved Son,

on 30 January 1989,

Taipei, Taiwan,

bursting into the world

with those

enormous, inquisitive

eyes,

and soon the

laugh,

spirit,

discernment,

kindness,

soaring intellect

that would be enough

for one man’s

 

Divine Bounty

 

even if

nothing else had

graced my

 

Life.

 

But so much

else has so graced,

 

heightening my

gratitude for

the

 

Wonder

 

of

 

Barbare

 

and

 

You.

GMD

Thanksgiving 2024