I contacted Heritage about the "contract" question, and received the
following: [Heritage is a] contracted alternative school; Minneapolis
Public Schools contracts with Heritage Academy (a non profit) to provide
teaching and learning to its students. We never were a charter and we [have
a lease for access to] the Tuttle building.
This is exactly what Buzzy said and no one is hiding anything.
The school existed about three years as a contract school in another MPS
building before moving to Tuttle. It has never been a charter school. I
was mistaken if/when I used that term to describe it.
I don't share Connie's information that "Heritage Academy is the nearest
thing to a charter school the
Minneapolis Public Schools has. The nature of its sponsorship, its
leadership, its teaching staff, its curriculum, its student population are
not representative of a Minneapolis public school as we normally understand
them. Emily is right to recall that, when it was presented to the
neighborhood, it was presented more or less as a very specialized charter
school. Or "contract"--with an outside group--''alternative" school. In
Como we have never thought of Hertiage Academy as a public school which our
children could attend if they weren't Somali."
I have never shared Connie's perception of it (referenced above) so I am
absolutely not part of "we". If I had a child who was Science/Math G-T,
I'd be happy to send them across the street. I respect the teachers and
administrators and enjoy interacting with the kids. I have enjoyed
discussions with Dr. Abdi and Dr. Ali before him, about educational
philosophy and crafting an environment which supports the science/math
talents of kids who must attend school using their second language skills
in a multicultural city.
As many hours as I have spent on the Tuttle campus, I've never seen Connie
there, but since I am still working 40 hours a week, perhaps she is there
during my working day. I have to take off from work to be with the
students, so they don't get a whole lot of my time, face to face. I'm more
likely to donate hours to the campus after work and on weekends and I'm
often there alone. I do attend planning sessions with some of the
teachers, working on an on-going project or two. I send the STEM
teacher notes about things I've seen on campus that she might want to share
with the students--mostly biology.
"African American" is a term in flux, actually. In the libraries, we
shifted from "black" to "African American" less than 15 years ago and are
still not dealing with it too well. My cataloging friend in Canada points
out that his daughter is considered "black" in Halifax, London, and Sydney
but "African American" in the U.S. I recall that someone called down Mrs.
John Kerry because she referred to herself as an "African American". Teresa
Heinz Kerry was born in South Africa. She is now an American. She
reminded people of her place of birth and asked, "If I'm not African
American, what am I?"
I have to ask the same about people who are from East Africa. Clearly all
are from Africa and probably most are now US citizens. And so??
Finally, to the best of my understanding, anyone may apply to Heritage.
They do support Somali culture which is imbedded in Islam, and people know
that coming in. The teachers were mostly Americans four years ago, and if
you look at the roster, you'll still see mostly American names. My first
friend there is named "Nancy" and we are still partners in projects.
The school's mission statement includes the following: We are committed to
providing excellent services to all students through an array of programs
that includes the following: Academic rigor, college and career prep, field
experience, AVID, exceptional language and literacy development, mentoring,
service learning and STEM-based curriculum*.*
I take "all students" to mean all students until someone can prove the
contrary.
I'm not sure who, in Como, is aligned with Connie's view of the place. I
will be very sad if it is the SECIA Board. My own view of SEComo is that
it is a welcoming, inclusive place to live. Has this changed?