Tom asks: Should we move our family to Lowell?
I received the following email from Tom: “I will soon be relocating my family to MA to take a new job in Cambridge (I am a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry). My wife and I are parents of children ages 12 and 8. They are both outstanding students with high marks and no discipline problems. We are interested in the Lowell area as the homes are affordable and the town looks like a great place. Our concern is about your schools. Independent ranking systems seem to rate Lowell schools, as a function of MCAS scores, among the lowest in the state. Can you please address a few of our concerns? Our number one concern is safety. Are violence, drugs, bullying, or vandalism problems worse in Lowell than the average school system around Boston? Why are the MCAS scores below average? Is there an ongoing effort to improve? Do you have a problem retaining good teachers? If you are a parent, are you happy sending your children to Lowell public schools?”
My (edited) response: “I am proud that my children will be graduates of Lowell High School. We love this city and have truly made it our home. We have the best large urban school system in the state, but it’s not perfect, which is why I got involved. One reason our MCAS scores are low is because we are an urban, immigrant school district with the highest population of ESL students in the state and a good percentage of low-income families (65%). Lowell schools are truly diverse, which is a strength that isn’t measured on a test. As with any district, there are issues and kids who make bad choices, but our staff does a good job with safety and providing respectful school climates. In terms of bullying, we do a better job of preventing it than most suburbs because of our diversity–our students learn early on to accept people’s differences. Since my son started in the schools 12 years ago, I have seen steady progress around the quality of instruction. Teachers want to work here because we pay well, provide a generous benefits package, and offer professional support and advancement opportunities, and because they love our children. Our Teacher Academy, which we recently expanded so outside educators could attend, is a national model. (Lowell also has a renowned police training academy.) As a city, Lowell offers a thriving artist community, many fine restaurants, our own repertory theater, a beautifully restored historic library, a ball field, arena, and more. If you decide to come up for a visit, let me know.”
What would you have told Tom?
posted in Education | 8 Comments