In CCSD, Middle-school Choice Makes All the Difference

Show me a middle school that doesn't have problems, and I'll show you a movie set! All parents can hope for is a middle school with fewer problems than others. Problems occur in academics, discipline, and curriculum. In fact, dedicated middle-school teachers deserve the front row in heaven.

So it's disappointing that our local reporters seem to miss the importance of this linchpin of educational success. Their recent stories on the horrors of school choice blurred the distinction between getting into the elementary school of choice and getting into the middle school of choice.

One such example put forth really deserves a second look. A straight-A fifth-grader at E.B. Ellington Elementary in its Advanced Studies program (whatever that means) was wait-listed at three middle schools his parents chose. He's zoned to attend Baptist Hill Middle/High next fall.

Now, we can say all sorts of good things about Baptist Hill, which certainly would hope to draw students such as this one, but the reality is that the academics are stuck at a much lower level than the schools he hoped to attend, such as Buist.

"Last he checked, he was No. 43 on the waiting list at Buist and No. 15 at Haut Gap Middle. C.E. Williams Middle? Somewhere in the 90s."

Probably some will say that's what he gets for living in Ravenel, but why should that be true? The district created the Advanced Studies program at his elementary school to keep students coming. What have they created at that end of the district so that he can continue on an advanced level in middle school?

Nothing. Guess there aren't enough voters in his end of the district.