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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Now that the new principal has been announced, what are the thoughts on Garrison?  From what I hear about Mr. Kiplinger, it sounds like a good placement.[/quote]

I am going to get flamed for this, but I think the issues at Garrison go beyond whatever a principal is able to do.  Certainly, a principal can do a lot to improve a school (and conversely, to hurt a school), but the things I dislike about Garrison as a long term option for my children are not so easily addressed.  There are a lot of things I really liked about the PK program, but the things I dislike about the school as a whole are not going away anytime soon. With no viable feeder option, it makes no sense to keep my children in the school to see if things get better, knowing we'll need to explore our options in a few years anyway.  I know every school has issues but Garrison's seem systemic.  Maybe I'm wrong and Garrison will become a fabulous neighborhood school - I certainly hope that will be the case.[/quote]

So how are the issues at Garrison any different than Seaton or Langley for that matter?  Seaton is feeding into the same exact school, Cardozo, but everyone seems to swoon with its mention.  I'm genuinely interested.  [/quote]

The issues are all typical of title I schools as far as I know.  Gentrification awkwardness, low test scores, not enough affluent parents to fund the extras, behavior issues in the upper grades, and people leave even if their experience has been fine because of lack of acceptable feeders.  Garrison had a renovation and that was putting people off.  Seaton has had an excellent principal for some years and that is probably why its star has been rising.  Langley has a big special needs program and that is an added challenge administratively and affects the test scores somewhat.  Langley has a modest STEM program for upper grades, and a very big and nice building.  People don't stay because of the middle school issue, so they tend to choose the most convenient or where they have friends.

Langley is a few years behind in gentrification, not surprising as it is further east.  Now that it is harder to get into nearby charters and even Seaton and Cleveland and Garrison, Langley is getting more traction.  The Langley building is historic, but it was reopened as an elementary school about 6 or 7 years ago and Emery and Shaed schools were combined into it. [/quote]

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