Dear BVSD School Board Members:

The recent controversy over changes to the Advanced English Language Arts classes at Centennial Middle School has led to frustration among parents, students, teachers, and administrators. Disruptions at parent events at Centennial, such as PTO meetings and Back to School Night, are evidence of how this issue has become a critical concern within the Centennial community. As Centennial parents, we want to constructively resolve this issue and propose the following process.

We request that a stakeholder group of teachers, parents, and administrators be formed to review the Centennial Language Arts survey results, identify issues, share information, discuss solutions, and create recommendations regarding the Advanced Language Arts program at Centennial. We believe that such a stakeholder group will increase understanding, reduce frustration, build trust, and strengthen our school community. We ask that this group be formed by the end of October and have its first meeting in early November.

We submitted a more detailed version of this letter to Principal Ellis on September 26th. As of October 4th, we had not yet received a response.

We believe that Centennial is faced with an opportunity to be a district leader in developing and implementing changes to English Language Arts instruction that result in programs that meet the needs of students and are supported by teachers and parents.

Sincerely,

The undersigned parents of Centennial Middle School students: