We choose Clark

In response to the Lisa Provence article on Clark: First, let me express the perspective of a parent whose child is, by unwavering choice, returning to Clark Elementary School. Our family has always had school choice, as my husband has been an educator for eight years in the Charlottesville City Schools. One of the benefits accorded to city educators is the ability to send their children to any out-of-district city school, tuition-free, and we have chosen Clark.

I had to chuckle reading Lindsay Howerton's comments in the article. I think that lurking beneath the comments of these supposedly guilt-ridden Belmont families is the fear that if they put their child in the public school setting, even in one that has been "labeled" by far-away bureaucrats as one needing improvement, they might find their children not as well prepared for academic rigor as they thought.

I can imagine discovering that so much money has been spent with little return (other than perhaps teaching their children, by example, that they are too good to be expected to function and excel in a truly diverse environment) would be quite horrifying.

As a member of the community who is vested in Clark Elementary, and by extension, the success of neighborhood schools everywhere, I thank those who might hinder the efforts of those who are working to be part of the solution at this critical time in the school's history, by taking their pretensions elsewhere.

Amy Hill
Charlottesville

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