When The Doors Close

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How does a school save a town.
Keeping it together. The kids from the same community and the community behind those kids. It saves both.


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Is this a serious response? So you would rather sacrifice your children's education just so a town can come together over a high school? Other than sporting events and graduation ceremonies give me 1 example of how communities come together over a high school? [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/arcadefreak.gif[/img] Some of you all need to realize that you have graduated and no longer in high school.

In an earlier post I addressed the fact that many of the leading institutions of higher learning are moving away from consideration of AP courses. The tuition problems can be worked out- I DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE HAS EVER TRIED. I must point out that it is not the job of our secondary schools to serve as prep schools. A county such as Wise cannot let itself be driven into bankruptcy for the sake of parents who want to send their kids to a liberal-ridden Ivy League school. I think it good that a kid should want to go anywhere he chooses, but a good high school core offering of the basics will provide this. The schools in this county need to provide the fundamentals- if a student is good at those he will be accepted at a great many institutions of higher education.

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In an earlier post I addressed the fact that many of the leading institutions of higher learning are moving away from consideration of AP courses.

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Where did you get that information?

take uva wise out of the county and you would have a four lane county wide on our way to bristol and kingsport.

I say that because I see so many people copy and past stuff on here, then lean on it as if they made some large find, other than knowing how to use a search engine.

With your vast knowledge of our school systems and of our area maybe you should come up with a idea for our schools.

I'm simply amazed. Jaw-open dumbfounded.
Amazed that when it's all said and done, folks want "community" over improved education.
I loved Pound, I really did. But I would have been happier in a more challenging environment. It was very frustrating to want to take classes only to be told over and over again "sorry - there's not enough interest." I'll say it. I was royally screwed over in my secondary education.

These towns are already dead. Let's salvage the kids educations at least.

Read the admissions requirements of those links I posted.
AP is taken into consideration. Only a small percentage of applicants are accepted. There is competition and Wise County is on the bottom end of the totem pole. Here's one quote from one of the websites:
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it's fair to say that we seek excellence.We focus first on academic
excellence, using a variety of information"?courses, grades, test scores, recommendations, essays"?to help us assess performance and potential. We pay particular attention to the rigor of each candidate's course of study.

Successful candidates typically take at least one course in each of the five core academic disciplines"?English, math, social science, lab science, and foreign language"?in each of their four years in high school. Many take the
most difficult academic programs available at their schools.

Beyond academics, we seek excellence in other areas: in the arts; in athletics; in
leadership, service, citizenship, and character. This list isn't exhaustive or prescriptive; our candidates do things we've hardly imagined, and we're more than happy to be surprised.



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take uva wise out of the county and you would have a four lane county wide on our way to bristol and kingsport.


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Don't we have that now?

I agree with what elpn is saying,, she is good with words,, and c/p??? who the hell are you kidding? [censored]...
the outlying schools in the county (st. paul, pound, and appalachia students) have been at a disadvantage for years. they can't hop into their cars and drive to uva/w or mecc and get back in time for their next class at their respective school. Kelly and PV has many more classes than the other county students are offered. I just think that all students in the county need the same opportunities.

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It is a proven fact that it is helpful to any scheme of economic development to have a secondary school in that community

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So tell me. Where's the great economy in each of our Wise County towns since we currently have a secondary school in each of these communities?

Your statement contradicts itself.

What do the residents of Pound have to show for their tax dollars? Pound has Foodland, The Dollar General, a carwash, a broken down footbridge, and a park that consists of a single small prefab play gym. They use the the old Christopher Gist High School as a town hall. I would prefer to see it used in a more academic sense (maybe even alongside the tow hall functions). A museum perhaps, education center, etc. But no. A town hall is all it is. There's no funding or desire to do more with it. Not a great sense of community there.

When the consolidation issue first came up I did some research on this subject. I believe I posted some links in a previous post- have them in a folder- will send them to you if I failed to include them in it. You might have to do some digging as long as this thread is.