Guest Opinion | Meredith Murphy, Ph.D.: What’s Being Ignored in the Proposal to Close and “Consolidate” Blair Middle/High School

Most students and families would be saddened by their school being closed, but the prospect is especially heartbreaking when you have very intentionally chosen that school. My daughter, Fiona, is a 6th grader at Blair Middle School. Blair isn’t the school we’re zoned for. In fact, we don’t live in Pasadena; we live in Highland Park and are zoned for LAUSD. We chose Blair because, after touring various options, we were certain it was the best fit for Fiona. I know there are many other families like ours – those who aren’t zoned for Blair but chose it, or even fought through the maddening interdistrict permitting process, because they found the school they believed would best serve their children (as an aside, interdistrict students provide a financial benefit to PUSD).

The current proposal to shutter Blair, separate the middle and high schools, and merge them each with a different school, is hugely problematic. The proposal touts vague benefits of increased academic and elective opportunities. But what proponents of closures fail to acknowledge is that Blair is more than just some buildings. It is not merely an IB Program that can be deconstructed and reassembled at other schools. Blair is a community. Sure, the IB Program is one of the reasons we chose Blair, but it’s hardly the only one (in fact, we have an IB middle/high school closer to us in our own district, but we all – including Fiona – felt that Blair was a better fit).

So why did we choose Blair? One reason is the 6th-12th grade continuity. We know this model tends to benefit students overall, and it’s ideal for Fiona, both academically and socio-emotionally. She currently has classes with several teachers who also teach high school classes, allowing her to develop long-term academic relationships. Fiona will also have the same counselor from now until she graduates. What a gift, to have a counselor who will get to know her as a growing teen and developing student over the course of 7 years! She even has a wonderful 12th grade mentor in Blair’s phenomenal Ovations Theater Company.

Ovations was actually another significant factor in choosing Blair. I know many schools have drama programs, but none like this. In Ovations, middle schoolers get to learn from, work with, and be inspired by high schoolers as they produce their Fall play and Spring musical, as well as various smaller shows (and students aren’t only acting, they are doing it all – set design and construction, lighting, costuming, stage crew, playing music in the pit, and even directing one act plays). Blair’s theater director is the most supportive gem of a teacher who encourages and challenges her students, and Ovations is filled with dedicated, passionate kids who will lose the depth/breadth of this unique program if Blair closes.

We also appreciated Blair’s smaller size. The transition from elementary to middle school is hard enough for most students even under the best of circumstances, and it would have been even harder in a larger, more overwhelming school environment.

I could go on and on. But the bottom line is that all of this goes away if Blair is consolidated. Our middle schoolers will suddenly be in a school that has more than twice the number of students as Blair Middle School. The high schoolers will be pushed into an even larger school. And we know that the other schools being threatened with closures also have their own unique communities, their own individual “vibes” that makes them special beyond featured programs like STEM or DLIP. Programs can be moved, but the ambiance and feeling of a school cannot. If Blair is closed and consolidated, the special things beyond the IB program that we loved about this wonderful school (and continue to love as our daughter absolutely thrives there) risk being lost in the process.

Meredith Murphy, Ph.D. is a parent of s sixth grader at Blair Middle School