Forsythe Has...

Many cool murals, done by students over many years.
Here is a piece of one!

Halloween Windows

I grew up in a town with a vibrant downtown. Every October, the local merchants would give up their window space so that elementary and middle school students could paint Halloween-ish figures on a 3'x5' (or so) piece of glass real estate. Of course there were prizes for the best paintings--which I never won. But it was fun anyway, and it brought a lot of people downtown. I've never seen this anywhere else.

Anyway, it turns out that they are still doing this, and last year I was in town a few weeks after Halloween. I took a picture and--can you believe it--I'm actually remembering to post this a year later!

And I was thinking. . . Ypsilanti. . . Saline. . . Dexter. . . Chelsea. . . Manchester. . . Milan. . . even Ann Arbor. . . maybe you would like to adopt this tradition?

Send me a private message if you want the name of the town so you can find out the details regarding how the project is run.

Happy Halloween!

Name That School!

Recognize this school?

I know what you are thinking: "That postcard says "Tappan!" But I know that's Burns Park!"

According to the Burns Park school website:

Burns Park is named after Professor George Burns who was the Ann Arbor Commissioner for a time. In 1910 the old [county] fairgrounds, located here, were changed to a park and named in his honor. Before 1925, there were trolley barns here. In January 1925, they burned and this school building was built as Tappan Junior High. In 1951, Tappan moved and took its name with it. This building then took its name from the park. (Emphasis added.)

So I guess that really, we should call Tappan Middle School: Tappan Middle School II.

By the way, this picture was found on the Ann Arbor District Library's web site, where there is a lovely and large selection of historic images and information from and about Ann Arbor.

Want To Learn About The Lab School Proposal?

If you are interested in the Lab School proposal on the Scarlett and Mitchell campuses, here are two opportunities to find out more:

Opportunity #1: 

6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, 

Scarlett Middle School, 

3300 Lorraine St.  

Opportunity #2: 

6- 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, 

Mitchell Elementary School, 

3550 Pittsview Drive (A spaghetti fundraising dinner is also scheduled here on this night, but you can go to the event and not eat the spaghetti if you prefer, or go eat spaghetti and skip the event.)

Scarlett and Mitchell schools are located west of Carpenter Road, south of Packard in Pittsfield Township. (Enter south off of Packard at the traffic signal at Fernwood Avenue to reach both schools.) You can also enter via Platt Road onto Lorraine St.
From the press release: 

Scarlett Principal Gerald Vazquez said the forums are expected to offer basic information on the partnership and encourage discussion in small groups to generate ideas and raise pertinent questions. “We want parents to know that we are working on this as a process and we want them involved in the process,” he said.

So--GO!

Here are some of my questions, but I'm sure you have others.

Ask about how the funding will work. Will it really be cost-neutral?
Ask about why they are doing this project.
Ask whether these kids will be research guinea pigs and what protections they will have.
Ask what kind of projections they are using for enrollment. Do they really need two schools that can together fit over 1000 kids? Why not just use Scarlett? Why not make it a single K-8 school?
Ask about who will be teaching the classes.
Ask about special education integration.
Ask about how you can opt-in if you want a year-round school, even if you are not from that part of the district.
Ask about how you can opt-out if you don't want a year-round school, and you are in that part of the district.
Ask about whatever else you can think of....