Roosevelt Elementary School

From 1977 - 1982 I taught in this school  If you look just above and to the right of the front door you will see where the room was.  It was part of my "salad days" of teaching and I made some great friends. Several of the members of my first class there have reconnected with me on Facebook. 
From an article in the Ames Tribune:


One of the reasons it was such a great place to teach was Tom Berhow who was the principal. He would be my definition of a perfect principal.  He supported and lead us as teachers and while he was somewhat paternalistic it was not in an adverse way. 


As an aside my great aunt Avis Cole taught in this school for over 40 years.  So I feel connected to Roosevelt school and nothing can take the memories of this school and the people who made it great away from me.  


It has been closed for six years.  The school system is at a crossroads.  The current school board is in favor of placing a measure on the ballot which would reopen Roosevelt. Several Roosevelt patrons ran for and were elected to the Ames School board.  I feel that this is one reason that this is being placed on the ballot.  They tout the need for smaller schools.  I taught there and I taught at Edwards School which is also a two unit school which is slated to be closed.  Both schools were good to teach in although the Edwards experience was sometimes marred by less than satisfactory principals. 


Not all of the Board Members are in agreement with reopening Roosevelt. Two of them are opposed and the article reports that"

Board member Bill Talbot said, “The preferred method of education is for teachers to have professional learning communities with their peers, having three or four sections per grade level appears to be the optimal elementary school size to meet this objective. I also believe we can deliver special education and special classes, such as English as a second language, orchestra, band, choir and physical education, more efficiently in three and four section schools, compared to two section schools. The cost premium of operating a two section school could put some special programs at risk for elimination.” 

As fond as I am of Roosevelt School and the experience I had there, I am a progressive and it is not progress to reopen and bring up to standard a building built 90 years ago, just for the sake of the convenience of a few patrons or for nostalgia.  It is time to let this and other smaller schools go.  It is time to use the research about education guide our decisions and to use our money wisely.  It is not wise to re-open a school which has been closed and allowed to deteriorate and which would serve so few students when we are in a time when our nation and our school system are strapped for cash.  Why anyone would sign a petition to put this on the ballot let alone vote for it is beyond my understanding... But then what do I know?