Parents seek solutions to save neighborhood schools

Steady enrollment decline threatens the future of Hamline Elementary or Galtier community schools

By JAN WILLMS

Declining enrollment in Hamline Elementary and Galtier Community schools has raised concerns among parents. They gathered June 8 at Hamline Elementary, 1599 Englewood, along with representatives from the St. Paul Public Schools, to discuss the matter.

Expressing satisfaction with the opportunities and offerings of both schools, parents wanted to know how to raise enrollment figures and make sure that one of the schools would not face closure in the next couple of years.

Jessica Kopp, who has a daughter at Hamline Elementary, said that when her daughter started school, every teacher she talked to was inspiring and amazing.

Photo left: Parents, public school officials, and concerned community residents met June 8 to discuss the continued declining enrollment at Hamline and Galtier schools. It was a brainstorming/working session. (Photo by Jan Willms)

“I know that every day my daughter has come here for the past few years, she has been well taught,” Kopp said. “She’s a smart kid, and she is not being short-changed coming here. She is being challenged. Her teachers recognize her ability and also offer her opportunities in areas she needs to improve. They have taught long enough and have experience and intuition. I can’t imagine a world where my daughter doesn’t get to have an awesome teacher.”

Kopp also praised the Hamline to Hamline collaboration, a partnership between the elementary school and Hamline University. “The University has people and services our kids can access,” she said. She described the 5th-grade class pairing with the college law school, holding a mock trial on campus in which the elementary students play the roles of defense and prosecuting attorneys. The grade schoolers can also use the pool at Hamline University. “It’s like a second campus,” Kopp said.

Kopp commented on the Hamline University students who come over to assist with classes at the elementary school. “These are enthusiastic young people who are patient with the children,” Kopp said. “I have watched how they crouch down and engage with children at their level, helping with schoolwork or comforting them when they have a bad day. You don’t get that at many places.”

Mara Martinson, a Galtier parent of a kindergartner, said she had been a student at Hamline University and had been a part of the Hamline to Hamline collaboration. She said she had initially heard Galtier had gone through changes, and there were concerns with behavior problems and test scores. She added that after starting her child there, she had decided to stay.

“The change in principal and staff could not be better,” Martinson said. “The principal knows every child’s name; he knows my husband’s name and what he likes to do in his spare time.” She said she was happy with the children’s behavior and their support for each other.

“My personal experience has been nothing but positive,” Martinson added, “and my daughter has shown a lot of growth in the last three years.” The Galtier Community School parent said she grew up in a small town, and the Midway offers that same small-town feeling. “I want urban, but also the experience of my kids’ riding bikes down to their friends’ houses,” something that goes along with a community school.

“I can’t say enough about my experience at Galtier and what it means to my daughter,” Martinson said.

Jackie Turner, chief engagement officer for St. Paul Public Schools, told the parents at the meeting that she was excited about the opportunity to collaborate with them on a solution.

“No decisions have been made about Hamline or Galtier,” she assured them. “We do know we have some realities to face, but it is an opportunity for us at the grassroots level.”

She described Hamline and Galtier as looking different in the school year of 2012-13. “Hamline was a district-wide magnet, and so was Galtier,” she said. “That meant that families from all over the district could choose to come to Hamline or Galtier.” She described Galtier as a technology magnet and Hamline as a language academy. She said Hamline had 550 students at the time. In 2013-14, Jie Ming, the Mandarin Immersion Academy, and Hamline were located at the Hamline school, with 490 students. She said that in 2014-15, Hamline Elementary was down to 291 students, excluding pre-K.

They project 250 students for the Hamline community school for the coming school year.

“The enrollment has steadily declined over the past three years,” she noted, “for no particular purpose, just different types of programming.”

Turner said the school district is looking all over the city at different growth patterns. The elementary population is growing on the east side, with a little bit of a bump in the Highland and Groveland areas. She said the most significant growth is on the east side, and they will need a new middle school. ”We don’t always have the right buildings in the right places,” she stated.

Turner said more numbers of kindergartners are needed at Hamline Elementary, enough so that two classes could be formed.

“If we can have some commitment from parents, we might be able to work hard and get a second section of kindergarten,” Turner noted. “We’re going to be as flexible and open as you want us to be.”

She said the district will be surveying parents to find out why they may have left St. Paul public schools.

Talking in small groups, parents attending the meeting June 8 came up with some ideas to promote their community schools. Getting the word out about the Hamline to Hamline collaboration was a top recommendation. Another was getting prospective families together to visit the school and feel more comfortable with it.

Some said that as parents, they were excited about having an art and music curriculum in the school.

Being proactive and marketing Hamline and Galtier was also emphasized. Suggestions were made to have a table at the Fair in conjunction with Hamline University, and to be a presence at community events.

“We need to have a show of force and a show of love for our community schools,” one parent stressed.