Lower Merion School District One of '100 Best Communities For Young People'
The district announced Wednesday morning that it had received the honor from America's Promise Alliance.
Lower Merion School District has been named one of America's Promise Alliance's 100 Best Communities For Young People, it announced to a roomful of township personnel, district employees, board members, and students Wednesday morning at Welsh Valley Middle School.
The Alliance was founded in 1997 by General Colin Powell for the purpose of keeping "Five Promises" to America's youth: providing ongoing relationships with caring adults, safe places to go during non-school hours, a healthy start and future for each student, marketable skills, and opportunities to give back to the community.
This year, in choosing the 100 communities who best exemplified these ideals, the alliance placed special emphasis on anti-bullying and diversity education initiatives and holistic approaches to student well-being.
Lower Merion has been at the vanguard of each. In explaining its inclusion, the Alliance praised the district for its Olweus bullying prevention program and participation in the Anti-Defamation League's "No Place for Hate" effort.
"It's really a community honor," said district communications director Doug Young, who called the application process rigorous but worthwhile.
Welsh Valley principal Scott Eveslage agreed. "[We emphasise] a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment," he said, adding that it's an environment that would be, if not impossible, unlikely, outside of the context of the Lower Merion community.
It's a context that inspires envy, if not jealousy, across the state, state Senator Daylin Leach (D-17) said.
"Lower Merion is held up as a gold standard of what a school district should be," said Leach, who admitted that fellow legislators often tease him about the relative ease of overseeing such a competently run district.
"The community has made large investments [in the district], worked hard, and it has paid off," said the senator.
The payoff has included outstanding college acceptance rates and standardized test scores (98 percent of LMSD students graduate and 95 percent of seniors attend college), but also less tangible, and arguably more valuable, benefits, said superintendent Christopher McGinley.
"Our support of student health and well-being is what separates the district," said the superintendent.
Destiny Denise Ector
9:37 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Schools are glass houses and their success is largely dependent upon the children and families they serve. Lower Merion students tend to be fortunate people and as such children do not have to defend their possessions or positions or fear what many of their close urban neighbors fear. I raised my children there for this reason, I was raised there and have despite terrifying mistreatment of one of my now remarkably successful children- think it was still worth the high mortgage.
Lower Merion kids are not by and large a particularly violent bunch of kids but the business about inclusion-- whether they mean special education or a tolerance for diversity is a stretch. Go to the cafeterias- there is a world of information to be had within them.
The demographics of Lower Merion reflect a general child- focused- psychologically savvy population- not saying we couldn't have an incident- but I rather doubt it- despite the so-called diversity- people are not all that different. The people in the district employed to assist those who don't fit the success norm are largely unsuitable to the job and lacking in good scientific information. When a district hires an attorney to oversee special education eyebrows should raise.
As for the small racial minority- again, go to Lower Merion high school
and watch how the manner of staff changes when working with minorities- that, is a staggering disservice to all.