I grew up in Danvers, but since I was a small child, and again, while bringing my family to visit my mother, who moved to Ipswich nearly 20 years ago, I have loved the look and feel of Ipswich — the beaches, the woods, the downtown shops and the small town, neighborhood feel.
I returned to the North Shore as a single parent, juggling a career, four kids, two dogs and a cat. That was when the benefit of having services and conveniences a family needs: Stores, schools, bank, dentist, restaurants, and more, all within easy walking distance, became evident.
I moved to a house in the “grey” area, my kids could have attended Winthrop or Doyon. The flexibility of having my bigger kids able to walk my smaller kids to school was crucial to me continuing with my career and was a big factor in my choice of schools.
My first impressions of Winthrop School were of a warm, open and friendly environment, with highly capable and caring staff, set in a diverse and lively community. I know the same environment thrived at Doyon, too.
Winthrop School and downtown Ipswich became our living room, the perfect antidote to having to uproot my family from a Maryland suburb. I soon came to look forward to the days when I could walk the kids the 10 minutes to school myself, meet other parents. I was able to find new friends. My kids were able to get around, to and from school and social events without being strapped in a car all the time. Even with a busy work schedule, the 10-minute walk to the school made it easy to attend parent meetings, events, and to volunteer. We needed a downtown school just to get through the week.
Our Winthrop days have passed, but we remain engaged and committed to a school that gave my family and me so much, and I am committed to preserving for the next generation the benefits my family was so fortunate to have.
Ipswich is a geographically large and diverse town. We have two well-loved schools in need of some TLC. They are the right size and location for the ages and groups they serve. They are convenient for all.
More to the point: Current research shows that 300 to 400 students is the “sweet spot” size for an elementary school. Larger schools have more discipline problems. There is a greater risk of special needs kids, and even those who are just socially awkward, becoming marginalized, fading into the woodwork and being left behind in larger schools.
I ask, who benefits from ripping the heart out of downtown Ipswich to build a huge, expensive and remote mega-school, only accessible by motorized transportation? Why destroy two beloved communities when the existing structures could be rebuilt, modernized and expanded for less? Why rip away from 40% of in-town families the option of walking or biking to school, and raise their taxes? The proposed 775 student school is a supposed “solution” to a problem we don’t have. The problem is our buildings need fixing, it’s not that our buildings are the wrong size. So fix the buildings and don’t destroy what we know works: small schools for small kids.
A 775-student elementary school in a town of 13,000 is too big, too expensive, too far away and too far from who we are.
We can do better than this. Surely we can. — Monica Joyce, 11 High St.