Dear Superintendent Title, For about eight years now, a diverse group of Fairfield residents and residents of surrounding towns have met at Fairfield Woods Middle School to share the experience of learning Chinese, honing language skills, and delving into a culture which is becoming increasingly relevant to the world. Since its advent, the Fairfield Chinese Academy has grown into a constant for many families--into its own family. It has served as both a community and an educational resource. This year, the tradition faces a tentative future, and primarily on incorrect grounds--that a map in a classroom was damaged under normal use, though, in fact, it was merely jammed on the beam. The map has since been fixed, but the tradition has yet to be approved again for continuation. On behalf of the myriad students, parents, faculty and friends who have been involved with the Academy in the past several years, we would like to renew the appeal for the perpetuation of our program. Not only are we a mode of education, but we are also a community made up of an ethnically diverse people, who all share an interest in proffering knowledge to our children and raising cultural awareness in events running the gamut from McKinley Elementary, Fairfield University and the town of Fairfield. It has been brought to our attention that the issue of the stuck roll-down map points to a deeper issue: the disrespect of communal property by student. But it should also be mentioned that the students are to become, and in many ways already are, as much a hallmark and paragon of the community as the property in the same community. What's more, the property in question is that of a public school, made by a government of the people for the people. Thus, mutual respect and open communication deserve room. If a map that seems damaged beyond repair can be so simply fixed by further inspection, we believe that it should be the same way for all other issues in and regarding the district. We would also like to address the issue of students occasionally running in the hallways and the one time incident of a teacher’s desk disrupted by stating that The Fairfield Chinese Academy is committed to maintaining school property as we would our own. We have instituted a “Code of Conduct” for each member and have established a system of “Parents on Duty” to uphold the Rules and Regulations of the Fairfield School system. Going forward, we assure the Fairfield School system that these Rules and Regulations will be strictly enforced so as to not have future incidents. The Academy family is a microcosm of Fairfield's diverse people, and a synecdoche of a bright, proactive, involved future generation. Continuing our tradition at Fairfield Woods Middle School would allow us to better equip our children to make this future possible. We only need the chance to address it, and, hence, the space to do so. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, The Parents and Members of Fairfield Chinese Academy