Post in Why did Ericsson become Northrup Elementary?

Apr 30 19:25 UTC

I don't know why the name change, but I do have a 9 year old at Northrop and
will be sending my 2 year old there when she is ready.

While we don't have an assigned school, we have three options right by us.  You
get to choose where your child goes.  You do not apply and hope you get in.
You fill out your Minneapolis Public School Choice Card with your first,
second, and third choice.  I think there were three.  The children in the area
are given precedence but there is no other approval process.  They fill the
classes until they cannot hold anymore kids.  The MPLS Public Schools tries to
place as many kids as possible in their 1st choice.

We transferred our child from a charter school to Northrop for 3rd grade.  We
missed the deadline for the school choice cards.  We had no other kids there.
We still had no issues with him going to that school.

The school is a really good one.  Dr. Alvig is the principal and she is great.
She is open, speaks her mind, and they put out as many programs as they can for
the kids.  The PTA is very active also and does a lot of good work and
fundraising for the school.

The one problem that the school is having is related to the No Child Left
Behind program.  The testing that the kids go through is all in English.  No
translators are allowed at all.  There are no other languages that the tests
are offered in.  At Northrop, there is a very large minority population and
lots of ESL students.  They have a hard time with the test while they are still
learning English.  Also, from what I understand, the special needs children
take the same exact test as typical needs children.

We have friends in the neighborhood with kids in Kindergarten, First Grade, and
Fifth Grade.  All of the teachers have been exceptional, take time to get to
know the kids and work with them one on one.  If you want to be involved, the
teachers welcome you with open arms.

What I am more worried about is where I'm going to send my kids to high school.
Roosevelt does not seem like a good option.

Wendy

Overall, it is a great school.  I highly recommend it to any parent trying to
figure out where to send their Kindergartner or older children.