Post in Why did Ericsson become Northrup Elementary?

Apr 30 19:01 UTC

Hi everybody,

I think many of us in Standish Ericsson with children under five years of
age have legitimate concerns about the Minneapolis Schools, starting with
"where do we go?" and ending with "how good are they?" The first thing to do
is visit the MPS website at www.mpls.k12.mn.us. There you can sift through a
lot of information and find that Northrup (formerly Ericsson) is a magnet
school rather than a community, or elementary school. In other words, you
have to apply and get in rather than being automatically placed there - yes,
even if you live across the street.

What this means is those of us in the neighborhood with kids approaching
school age don't have a designated school. I find that aggravating. In a
perfect world, our kids would walk to their local school. Unfortunately, the
world doesn't work that way.

Fortunately, we have a lot of choices. The upside is there are some very
good schools in the city, and I understand Northrup is one of them.

It would be a shame if in the next five years all of us who have young kids
decide either to leave the city or send our kids to private schools, but it
is always an option. Therefore, I am willing, on behalf of "School-less"
Standish-Ericsson, to write a letter to the superintendent to express some
of our concerns and try to engage him in a meaningful manner. I would love
to hold a Q and A with a MPS official for neighborhood parents who are
considering sending their children through the school system. Could be a
win/win for all of us.

I appreciate any feedback people have. Contact me directly if that makes
more sense.

Sam Newberg
Joe Urban, Inc.
3913 29th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN  55406
(612) 251-4662 direct/mobile
(612) 721-1407 fax
<email obscured>
www.joe-urban.com