More on Neighborhood Schools

In yesterday's blog I made a point of endorsing neighborhood schools as adding to the health of the community and school. I want to follow-up yesterday's points by looking at the pluses of neighborhood schools from another angle.

Many of the suburban schools in Chicago, and around the country, are indeed neighborhood ones. Many of the these schools are attractive for a variety of reasons and cement the area both educationally and in other ways.

Let me take the pluses from an educational point of view. When students attend school, within the same vicinity, its quite easy for students to get together to work on projects or to study for exams. Likewise, high schools students who live in the same community often join organizations, clubs or sports when they now their neighborhood friends participate in them. The shared daily school experience also spills over, outside the building, into discussions with neighborhood classmates. Most, if not all, of these interactions are absent in non-neihborhood schools.

Neighborhood schools that have farmer markets, sporting events, car washes, plays, and various school and non-school events are sure to attract a great many more community students and parents than a non-neighborhood school. Why? Because the people in the community have a vested interest in the community because their son(s) and/or daughter(s) have attended the local school.

By the way, think about this if you would. Generally speaking, do you suppose parents in a tight-knit neighborhood school setting are more likely to put money into maintaining a quality school vs. a school where the students aren't largely from the immediate community?
I think you'll parents from a tight-knit neighborhood more likely to put funds into maintaining their neighborhood school.

All of these are reasons to further support neighborhood schools in rural, urban and suburban areas.

Many thanks,
Dick