Why close best performing school?

Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005

I received my daughter’s Maryland School Assessment from Grade 5 testing in the mail on Sept. 12, and I thought I would share the results of Seven Lock Elementary School. They are truly amazing.

In the MSA Reading Scale Score Chart, 80 percent of the recently graduated fifth grade class scored advanced, the highest category. That is incredible. That compares to 40 percent of the fifth graders in Montgomery County and 30 percent statewide.

In the MSA Mathematics Scale Score Chart, 69 percent of the fifth graders scored advanced compared to 31 percent of the fifth graders in the county and 17 percent statewide. Also totally amazing.

In both categories, Seven Locks had double (or more) the percentage of advanced students than Montgomery County.

Now of course, all of our children are naturally brilliant. And these results are certainly a testimony to the school’s staff. Their contributions cannot be underestimated. But you also cannot underestimate the value of the Seven Locks small school environment and the family atmosphere that nurtures the kids and makes the school work so well.

So the response of the county bureaucracy and school board is to close the best performing elementary school in the state.

As I have said for more than 19 months, the decision to close Seven Locks and build an overcrowded school defies common sense. It will be an expensive waste of time and money, and will do way more harm than good to our children.

Jay M. Weinstein, Bethesda