“Well you roll on roads over fresh green grass. For your lorry loads pumping petrol gas. And you make them long, and you make them tough. But they just go on and on, and it seems that you can’t get off… Well you’ve cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air. But will you keep on building higher til there’s no more room up there? … I know we’ve come a long way, Were changing day to day, But tell me, where do the children play?” Cat Stevens In the rush to make Sacramento a big city we seem to ... VitoJSgromo mee comment-15883 2009-10-20T02:50:48Z 2009-10-20T02:50:48Z However as of news TODAY the site is UNSAFE and the school now has to uproot and move to the Thomas Jeffereson Elementry School that is miles away and a far distance from this site that everyone loves. The poor students and Families, it's seems frustrating and always changing, not always for the better in this case. With the extra miles to add on to our already long commute it just might put us in a bind to find another school, closer to home. Plus the new site is only a "temporary" placement. mee 2009-10-20T02:50:48Z 1728E comment-15816 2009-10-18T21:14:30Z 2009-10-18T21:14:30Z As a CMP parent, I'm thrilled with the new location, given how they had outgrown the space that Pioneer Church so generously offered. Of course, the primary impetus of the move was to serve the needs of a growing demand for this charter school. And of course, they checked the earthquake safety of the main building prior to the move! The fact that the neighborhood benefits too makes it a "win-win". The school has exciting plans for new landscape and other improvements that will benefit both students and neighbors alike. No hidden layers to this story... just good use of urban space. 1728E 2009-10-18T21:14:30Z mariremariemarie comment-13768 2009-09-15T22:13:25Z 2009-09-15T22:13:25Z this is indeed a positive story. but what about mentioning the impetus to have had the charter school moved from its' original location held for over 8 years at the pioneer congregational church. did the school move to due to the adjacent longstanding 4 yr + construction of the Sutter Medical Foundation's multi-story medical building/underground parking garage/transmission&oxygen yard being built next to the playground of the previous location at 28th & capitol ave --or was the charter school really looking to improve the image of the midtown area and the quality of schooling opportunities for the area's residents? There are multiple layers to every scenario. mariremariemarie 2009-09-15T22:13:25Z Merinda comment-11870 2009-08-10T23:06:13Z 2009-08-10T23:06:13Z Wasn't this building ruled unsafe for k-8 children back in 1976? It will collapse in an earthquake .. someone should look into that~!! Merinda 2009-08-10T23:06:13Z Marion Millin comment-11316 2009-07-30T22:49:35Z 2009-07-30T22:49:35Z The return of students to the Marshall School location has great community building benefits, as pointed out in the article and by the other comments above. You make some good points about the broader community benefits of having children growing up and continuing through high school together. The reopening of a historic school in a neighborhood that is fighting to maintain livability (under pressures from impacts of city-backed "entertainment zones") is a great step forward. It's a step into the twilight zone to have many Sacramentans accept the glaring absence of their historic (2nd Oldest West of the Mississippi) high school and what THAT does to community-building. As you say, the Sac High giveaway "has seperated and segregated our communities and that is a shame." It is a shame, in one of the most diverse cities anywhere. For now, these children and this neighborhood have a new school. Here's to California Montessori Project, Capitol Campus at Historic Marshall! And here's to all the community-builders that made it a reality! Marion Millin 2009-07-30T22:49:35Z Susie Shields comment-11314 2009-07-30T22:24:21Z 2009-07-30T22:24:21Z Marion- great point you made about the charter school. Unfortunately, this seems to be the latest "trend" in education - charter schools that don't nececessarily educate the students of the community they are located in. It would be nice to have a regular public school for our children. Many of us still believe that traditional public education can work if parents become involved and the community takes ownership of the school. This trend of charters and open enrollment is eliminating a connection that brings people in communities together at one common place. I think the district is making a huge mistake by creating more charter schools. I would like to see them invest in traditional community schools. You're right about closing Sacramento High School. That was the biggest mistake the SCUSD has ever made in the history of the district. They should learn from that huge mistake because it cost them hundreds, if not thousands of students. They leave the district when it comes time for high school. The middle schools for the central city, East Sac, River Park, Oak Park, and College Greens don't have a feeder high school like every other middle school in the district has. Students who have gone to school together their whole lives get scattered to about 13 different high schools because there isn't a home high school anymore. That, in my opinion, has seperated and segregated our communities and that is a shame. I don't like too many charters for this very reason. They focus only on very specialized populations or very specialized philosphies and that can be very limiting in more ways than one. Susie Shields 2009-07-30T22:24:21Z David Watts Barton comment-11306 2009-07-30T16:29:02Z 2009-07-30T16:29:02Z This is great news! Citizen journalism strikes again. I'd love to hear more about the classes - how many, how many students, who the teachers are - and some looks inside the school. David Watts Barton 2009-07-30T16:29:02Z Marion Millin comment-11255 2009-07-30T18:50:45Z 2009-07-30T18:50:45Z Thanks Vito, great piece. Great news for the neighborhood and the community. As trendy as Mid/Down/town and East Sac have become, this is how people have lived real life (mixed use, walkable neighborhoods) for many decades. It's worth noting that this is a charter school. All Central City historic neighborhoods north of Broadway - from Mid/Downtown to River Park and College Greens -- are still without a comprehensive public high school, since Sacramento High School was given to Kevin Johnson. The trend in Sacramento is toward "small" schools, charters and privatization of education. The community values of the reopening of the Marshall School location, are also a reminder of the importance of public schools to neighborhoods. Historically, the feeder high school for those Marshall school students would have been Sacramento High School, if it was still a public school. Marion Millin 2009-07-30T18:50:45Z Clara74 comment-11253 2009-07-30T06:33:52Z 2009-07-30T06:33:52Z I am so pleased to see there are those that have the mentality to remind us all of the truely important things in life and civilization. The children are our future. What quality of child is produced from bars, nightclubs, and honky tonk businesses? All great civilizations fell due to rotting from the inside out. Thus weakened they were easily overrun by the enemy. This seemingly glorification of over self-indulgence in alchol by drinking in one watering hole after another, attracks the wrong kind of class of people to our area. Thus many parents will move from this environment in order to save their children. We need mentors for our children: such as those fighting the evils of too many bars and that type environment. Don't get me wrong, I like my glass of wine with my dinner, but I do not approve of turning Midtown into a ghetto of bars - no matter how the big city worshippers try to sugar coat it!!! Clara Smith, Senior Citizen Clara74 2009-07-30T06:33:52Z savemidtown comment-11251 2009-07-30T05:57:15Z 2009-07-30T05:57:15Z This is the best news we've heard in a long time. Midtown is a collection of neighborhoods that have survived for a century or more. Schools are essential along with neighborhood serving retail and a variety of housing types and prices. People who don't live here either don't know or don't care that our neighborhoods are not party zones to trash and then leave. This is a step in the right direction and hopefully the start of rediscovering what makes our neighborhoods work. savemidtown 2009-07-30T05:57:15Z