CEO Eugene Sanders says Montessori School to remain in Tremont
ISSUES CHALLENGE TO SCHOOL TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, March 2010) On Tuesday February 23 at the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) Board of Education meeting at John Marshall High School, Chief Executive Officer Eugene Sanders announced that the district’s Montessori School would remain at Tremont School. Sanders indicated that the Thomas Jefferson Building on W. 46th Street, just South of Clark Avenue, would now house both the Lincoln West Ninth Grade Academy and the newcomers program for children that have newly arrived in Cleveland from other countries.

In the battle to keep Tremont Montessori in the neighborhood, Tremont residents and stakeholders were in attendance at a number of community forums held by the School administration and the Board of Education over the past several months. They noted the Tremont neighborhood had embraced the school and shared their fears of the impact on the neighborhood of an empty school building.

Speaking at a February 3rd Board of Education Forum at Garrett Morgan, Tremont West Development Corporation board member Herb Crowther called closing and boarding up a school “a death sentence that devalues surrounding property.” Crowther suggested the district’s “Transformation Plan should be driven by academic performance.” He urged less emphasis on the age of the building and more emphasis on academic performance.

In making the announcement to keep the Montessori School in Tremont, CEO Sanders challenged Tremont Montessori to improve its academic performance. Tremont School, a school that draws students from a citywide population, was one of only two elementary schools in the Lincoln West Cluster to be rated as being in Continuous Improvement. However, the CMSD gave the Tremont Montessori an Academic Rating of 38.5 out of a possible score of 100. Clark Elementary School, the other elementary school in the Lincoln West Cluster to receive a rating of Continuous Improvement, has an Academic Rating of 55.8. Clark Elementary School’s relative success is perhaps why the district has had difficulty deciding what to do with Thomas Jefferson. Clark Elementary at 56th and Clark Avenue is the closest CMSD elementary school to the new Thomas Jefferson. No elementary school in the Lincoln West Cluster was rated higher than Continuous Improvement.

Despite its low academic rating, Tremont Montessori still has a much higher academic rating than most surrounding schools. The other Cleveland Municipal School District schools in the Tremont neighborhood all located along the Scranton Road corridor all have dismal Academic Ratings. Buhrer Elementary is rated at 3.3; Luis Munoz Marin is rated at 4.9; and Scranton Elementary is rated at 18.1.

The CMSD Transformation Plan calls for both Buhrer and Luis Munoz Marin to Refocus. At Buhrer the plan calls for continuing turnaround supports and strengthening the Spanish Dual Language Program. At Luis Munoz Marin the district calls for continuation of a turnaround plan in place at the school. Scranton school was placed in the Monitor Closely category, which means the school district will re-evaluate its performance at the end of this school year to decide what course of action to take.

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