Vote Against Judith Pastel's Proposal To Eliminate Middle School Students at LACS

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Dear [member of the school board],


We, the undersigned, are asking the members of the ICSD Board of Education to vote against Judith Pastel's proposal to eliminate middle school students from Lehman Alternative Community School (LACS).

LACS is a vital, inclusive community of students and staff. Many of the students have attended LACS since sixth grade. Dedicated alumni return to visit, volunteer, and work at the school. Eliminating the middle school program would detrimentally affect the sense of community that student develop during their many years at the school. High school students act as role models and mentors to the younger students. Older students show leadership by being teacher's assistants in middle school classes or by monitoring the younger students' behavior outside the classroom. Middle school is a developmentally sensitive time. To be successful participants in a school , such as LACS, which emphasizes independent learning and participatory democracy, the students need to spend these developmental years in an environment which encourages this. We feel that Pastel's proposal does not honor the community and the spirit of the school. The Ithaca City School District mission statement says: All students achieving their dreams! If our school district is to uphold its own mission statement, then middle school students should be permitted to continue pursuing their education as part of the Lehman Alternative Community School.

1160 Signatures

  • Andris Goncarovs
  • Aidan Meehan
  • Mary Balfour
    • Comments
    • The multi-age community is one of the aspects of LACS which helps create a powerful, unique and effective learning community. It is common knowledge that middle school differs significantly from elementary school. The transition to LACS for those students who would be well-served by LACS should take place at the middle school level. This viewpoint could be supported by evidence in the fields of child development and educational psychology. Our schools should be responsive to the needs of its students and its families. There is a vital need for the option of LACS to be open to middle-age-students.
  • Joshua
    • Comments
    • В
  • Ananda Brutvan
    • Comments
    • This is outrageous. The Middle Schoolers are a huge part of what ACS is. We can't just throw them out.
  • Alex Goncarovs
  • Alex Goncarovs
  • Courtney Colinger
  • Noa Wesley
  • Simon Warhaft
    • Comments
    • don't do it!
  • Carly Hodes
    • Comments
    • Eliminating middle school students is about the worst idea I've heard yet regarding ICSD.
  • Abigail Wheetley
    • Comments
    • Middle School at ACS changed, and perhaps even saved my life many years ago. To eliminate the choice and chance for young people in Ithaca would be a travesty.
  • Sean Rillera
  • Megan Henry
    • Comments
    • Attended ACS for MS and HS 98-05
  • Wypkelien Steenhuis
  • KELSEY D STEARNS
    • Comments
    • Please don't mess with the school. Don't remove this choice from our community.
  • Rebecca Costello
  • Maddy Friga
  • Sarah Hummel
  • Devin Martin
    • Comments
    • I'm a senior who has attended LACS since the first day of 6th grade. My middle school experience at LACS has helped me become the successful student I am today. I would hate for children currently in ICSD elementary schools to be denied the wonderful opportunity for education and personal growth that and LACS middle school experience brings.
  • Kaatje Pullman
  • Jake Randolf
  • Rane Bullion
  • Tigan Woolson
    • Comments
    • В
  • Beal St. George
    • Comments
    • Judith Pastel and the Ithaca City School Board couldn't possibly understand the importance of the particular education middle schoolers recieve at LACS. Eliminating this crucial part of the school is to remove a part of its core structure - that children of many different ages can enjoy this education. So many of these middle school students apply because they know they can thrive in this independent environment. All children are entitled to realize their full potential through whatever type of education they choose, and Judith Pastel should not be able to simply take away this right.
  • Victoria Sisouphone
    • Comments
    • The middle school is an essential part of LACS. Without the middle school program, high school students coming into LACS will not recieve the full experience of the true LACS community. Middle schoolers have the chance of being mentored when at LACS by high school students.That is an opportunity that I would not want to abolish.
  • Rosalie Metro
    • Comments
    • Come on, it's not like eliminating middle school at LACS will save money--unless those kids just don't go to middle school at all.
  • Audrey Sarah Cohen
  • Maria Alfaro
  • Faith Woolson
    • Comments
    • My granddaughter has been a very successful student at LACS, starting in middle school. It was a perfect place for middle school for her, since she needed both the flexibility and positive attitude toward serious students that LACS can provide. Now that she is in the high school there, we hear of instances where she interacts to the benefit of middle school students. Having middle school age students with high school students may not work in other schools in this district, but LACS is a very unique school, so the students' interactions of all ages are very supportive. Talk to students and go visit. That would be much more useful than making assumptions based on other schools.
  • Jade Shew
  • Satya Rhodes-Conway
  • Max Mandeville
  • Casey Soules
  • Michael Anderson
  • Elizabeth Field
    • Comments
    • Middle school is an integral part of the LACS experience. Please keep it in there.
  • jyl dowd
  • Clara Hammond-Oakley
  • Jocelyn Sawyer
  • Maxine Etchison
  • Tyler Trueman
  • Daniel Rapaport
    • Comments
    • LACS middle school is one of the cornerstones of this community. You can't have a good LACS without a middle school ACS
  • Gabriel Lewenstein
  • Darren Hoffman
    • Comments
    • ACS Alumni
  • Anonymous
  • Glenn Evershed
    • Comments
    • В
  • Gillian Weitz
  • John Benson
    • Comments
    • Attended 1980-87. Graduated 1987. My experience as an ACS middle School student was a pivotal experience in my life. Suffice it to say that I would not have survived the other schools available. Attending ACS meant that I was not only able to graduate from high school, but also able to pursue college and a career. The idea that such cuts are necessary due to a budget shortfall strikes me as odd, given the higher average property tax assesment rate in the City of Ithaca, where the housing market has been far more stable than much of the rest of the country at this time. Given the small size of the student body, it would seem to me that cuts could very likely be made to extracurricular programs at either Boynton and DeWitt, rather than completely eliminate the core educational program at LACS.
  • Joseph Amsili
  • Marianne Aarons
    • Comments
    • As Parent of an ACS graduate (middle school through high school), I have seen firsthand the value of the ACS Community, its democratic form fostering the development of self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as respect for self and others. The interaction of middle school and high school students is very high for both. Please continue the middle school option.