The purpose of this petition is to express TEAM Berwick’s opposition to the transfer of Assistant Principal, Dr. Keisha Fletcher Bates, from Berwick K-8 Alternative Elementary School to Westmoor Middle School. TEAM Berwick stands in partnership with the school and the district to ensure that each of our students excel academically. Because Dr. Bates’ administrative, academic, and relational leadership has made Berwick a successful K-8 school, we urge you to reconsider her abrupt reassignment to preserve academic achievement in our school. Moving Dr. Bates is detrimental to student learning at Berwick for the following reasons:
Dr. Bates is a data driven leader, serves as the school’s disciplinarian, community liaison, and school social worker. More importantly, Berwick students are thriving under her leadership, both academically and socially;
- Middle school student performance is what earns Berwick’s effective rating and Dr. Bates is acting principal of the middle school. Given the district’s overall middle school performance, it only makes sense that the district should want to keep a successful middle school in tact;
- Berwick is a science focused middle school and Dr. Bates possesses an extensive math and science teaching background that contribute to our students’ command of these challenging subjects;
- Parents were not notified until after the conclusion of the school year. This precludes parents’ ability to enroll their students in the lottery to attend other district schools. Now the only recourse that parents who are uncomfortable with the changes have is to seek charter and/or private/parochial school placement for their students. This is at odds with our desire to stay in and build upon what is becoming a strong community school;
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For the academic and social development of our students, we urge the district to reconsider the transfer of Dr. Bates. Let’s keep one of the strongest schools in the district intact and do what’s best for our children.