To the LISD school board & Flower Mound Mayor and council members,
My name is Sarah Mitchell and I am a Donald Parent. I have a daughter in the 3rd grade. I also have a two year old, who is a future Donald Dolphin.
My family moved from Lewisville during the middle of my daughter’s kindergarten year because of the exemplary ratings of the all the schools in the Flower Mound High School feeder pattern. We choose FMHS over other options because of this. This was the first statistic we looked at before even looking at housing prices or specific neighborhoods. I have come to learn that what makes one school rated better than another is not the curriculum, but parental involvement in their child’s education. This allows those high performing schools to achieve more and to attract the best teachers.
In order to keep FMHS exemplary for future years, rebalancing needs to occur. Donald and Forestwood students are not receiving the “extras” to stay competitive. For instance, at Donald we lost Reading Recovery.
Due to enrollment numbers, we are probably facing losing a special, such as Art, Drama or Music for next school year. My daughter loves her specials. Most days that is all she will share with me about her school day.
It is my understanding that Forestwood has had to cut back on its Theater Art classes due to enrollment. How is this allowing the students from Forestwood to be prepared to compete at a Grammy Signature School? It does not. The same can be said about athletics.
McKamy on the other hand has been able to add additional programs due to its enrollment. I also understand that when it comes to athletics that not all students get to compete because there are only a few a spots. Case in point, McKamy had to cut 100 girls from their volleyball team. That is 100 girls that in theory could have had a chance to compete at Forestwood, therefore making FMHS a stronger school.
I grew up in a gentrified part of Dallas and personally experienced my elementary school facing closure. Our neighborhood welcomed busing from several elementary zones over, mainly refugees from southeast Asia. These students only attended elementary school with us, not middle school or high school. We kept our neighborhood school while growing our programs. I and everyone who went to school there were better for it. And… it is to this day an exemplary and a blue ribbon school just like Donald due to parental involvement. But, this is different, in the end, we attend the same high school.
For the betterment of Flower Mound High School and for every child who will attend, please choose to rebalance the student population between the schools.
Here are my thoughts of the involvement of the town council on this issue: We are one town, we need to act as one. With the town council’s resolution, it is sending a clear message to those of us on the east side of 2499 that we are not part of Flower Mound.
I also want to point out that Flower Mound Elementary School boundaries are divided by FM 2499. Those students have been crossing 2499 for years. So have the students to the south of 3040 attending Shadow Ridge.
Please work to bring our town together. I believe by rebalancing the student population it will make our town stronger. By making 2499 a “natural boundary” it will divide the town for years to come. Much like North vs. South Dallas. I don’t want that… do you?
Sarah Mitchell
Flower Mound, TX
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