Sentinel
& Enterprise
MPS students to
pick school’s new name
By Kyle Alspach
June 2, 2006,
FITCHBURG -- Students at the Museum Partnership School have received
an unusual assignment: They must pick a new name for the school. Many
changes are afoot at the school, which will gain independence from B.F.
Brown Middle School this fall and become the first pilot school in the
state outside Boston.
"It's going
to be their school, and they're going to have a lot of say," said
Headmaster Peter Stevens. "We're asking them to take some ownership."
The school is also
no longer considered a partnership. Fitchburg Art Museum officials pulled
out in May after being told they wouldn't be paid by the city for their
services.
Stevens said this
presents a unique opportunity for students to rename the school as they
see it.
Stevens said he
has heard some possible names tossed around, such as the "Fitchburg
Creative Arts Pilot School."
He didn't expect
the new name would be finalized immediately. A new principal, Les Edinson,
is taking over in July.
Superintendent Andre
Ravenelle spoke positively this week about the idea of letting the students
decide on the name.
Mayor Dan H. Mylott,
chairman of the School Committee, said he wasn't sure the name could
be set without School Committee approval.
"I also don't
think it's a big deal," Mylott noted.
Pilot schools are
publicly-funded but have their own decision-making board, independent
of the city.
Decisions such as
budget, curriculum and schedule are left up to the school itself. The
Boston school system includes a handful of pilot schools.
Advocates say giving
the schools more control over their own matters has improved learning
for students.
(c) 2006 Sentinel
& Enterprise
