Christine Shediack, whose son, senior Christopher Fulton Jr., is autistic, chose SOI for him because the high school is too big and too loud for his sensory needs. She said he’s also not in a resource room, but is in classrooms with other students and has a specialist who works with him.
“He actually comes home and tells me what he’s learning in class for the first time, because they teach it so much (and) it’s project-based, you retain the knowledge better,” Shediack said. “They take care of each other in there. It’s an excellent school.”
District leaders emphasized this decision was driven by “the need to ensure long-term financial stability while expanding academic opportunities” and is about “protecting the interests of all students,” according to Superintendent Bob Hill.
But Shediack is concerned some students may drop out of school without the same opportunities as they have at SOI.
She also worries the kids will look at it as if they are not worthy or important because they “already feel like they’re scheduled out.”
She talked about the schools and classrooms already being “jampacked,” but closing SOI will add at least 100 more kids.
“I understand there’s a cost and they have to figure it somewhere...but you’re succeeding,” she said. “Why would you shut down what’s succeeding?...Why did you even go on with this school year? You set up all those ninth graders for failure. Two weeks before they came out with this, they were touring the schools with middle schoolers. Why would you do that to the kids?”
Shediack said if Fulton wasn’t graduating, she’d homeschool him instead of having him go to the high school.
“I don’t worry about my son because I know he’s okay. I worry about the other children there because just as much as my son is special, they’re special. They have needs, and their needs are being met without a whole lot and that’s very unfortunate that these kids are going to lose out,” she said.
Myra Star, who has a grandson in the ninth grade, said she’s disappointed in the closure because it’s “the only one of its kind” within Springfield and is “highly successful.”
“You’re supposed to be able to just get up and go to school, and you can’t learn if you’re worried about what’s going to happen,” Star said.
Star said her grandson was bullied in middle school and they had to homeschool him the rest of his eighth grade year because of it. The family has concerns the bullying will happen again if he returns to the high school, so they are working on finding a solution.
“(SOI) has been a great fit for him. He’s thriving there, doing really well,” she said.
The day students found out, she said her grandson was shocked.
“I couldn’t have been more surprised (because) that school has been wildly successful and is a model that works,” Star said.
Jaime Shirley, parent of sophomore Joselyn Elliot and eighth grader Joeyanna, who was planning to go to SOI next year, said they feel distressed because SOI is a family.
“We have always felt like the teachers with the smaller student body are really given the chance to connect with the kids. (My daughter) really gets to be her own person and have that be valued,” she said. “At SOI, these kids aren’t lost in a sea of kids. They genuinely matter to these teachers.”
Shirley said SOI is a safe school where kids are encouraged to learn as individuals, work as part of a team and understand how diversity helps a group become stronger. She added that students don’t have to worry about bullies or violence.
She said since the announcement of the closure, the recurring theme has been about safety — physically and emotionally.
“My greatest fear is these kids losing a place where they get to be celebrated, and I’m afraid the social pressures of the larger school will distract the kids from learning,” Shirley said.
Shirley said this school model works and she feels the move will make the kids feel like they don’t matter.
“What does it show the kids who have found a home at SOI? We need to stand up and support them; these kids want to fight for this school. We need to help them,” she said.
Elliott is planning on trying to go to CTC next year if she can get in, but Shirley said there’s a concern of an influx of kids “trying desperately not to go to the high school.”
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