Please, please, please don't try to make Metro bigger! 300 students should be the absolute max. capacity of that facility; and probably closer to 270.

The current building - ugly as it is - was only built in 1996!

As a Metro 1997 grad, I think it's still a decent school, and the new principal (Wilfred Moore) is supposedly way cooler than Pam was. (Betty Wheeler, founding principal, was still there when I graduated).

Anyway, I thought the earlier proposal to start a 2nd Metro by using space at McKinley and making the Metro teachers teach at both sites was just plain screwball.

If you want to create a 2nd small college prep school, bring back the moniker "Classical Senior Academy" which was originally the gifted high school program housed in Soldan High School. It closed in 1993 when Soldan became the international studies magnet high school. It was a part-time magnet program; students also took regular Soldan classes, just like the old Mass Media magnet program was at the old McKinley High School. I think it closed in 1990 or so, whenever they did the "Beaumont at McKinley" thing to renovate Beaumont; and then in 1993 I think McKinley became the Classical Junior Academy middle school.

In any event, if you want to replicate Metro, you have to hire a separate faculty and similarly dedicated principal; and then you could make it CSA, the natural progression from CJA, and locate it in an appropriate facilty. The difference, I suppose, would be that CSA would require gifted/talented status - i.e., an IQ test - to get in. Metro does not!

I wouldn't recommend enlarging Metro, the small size adds to the environment, but I think duplicating its methods in more locations may work.

Although I did attend Classical Junior Academy way back in the day, I was never comfortable with the gifted vs. regular school divide. As a kid I wondered why they couldn't lavish attention and financial support on all the schools the way they did CJA.

I know now that having a separate program for gifted students is beneficial and that there were institutional and personnel problems that leads to some schools receiving deficient resources and attention, thus leaving their teachers in the lurch.

I would like to see several Metros. Even, perhaps, to try to steer students in middle schools towards those schools. Make them our elite schools and use it as an incentive to get students to give that extra percent.

As a 1990 graduate of CJA (back when Enright was the only one) who avoided Metro for some strange reason (at the time there was a school that specialized in teaching civics and law) I remember the shock of how poor conditions were in the high school I went to. At CJA the courses were better than 90% of what I was offered at either my original high school or Soldan, where I eventually ended up. Luckily, I had 4 or 5 teachers who really made a difference in my high school experience.

I agree that Metro's size is probably a major factor in its success and I'd hate to change that formula. Setting up other programs seems like a great idea. I'd love to see gifted programs spread around the district.

Of course, I'd love for college level math, philosophy, english, and writing to be in every school as well. That's probably wishful thinking though.

Wow - a real live alum of the Center for Management, Law and Public Policy (MLPP)?!

I always thought that was a very strange name for a high school. It merged in 1993, I guess, with the international studies magnet program previously at Roosevelt, I think, to former Soldan International Studies. Right?

Wasn't MLPP in the old Franklin School building near Carr Square? I think that building is slated to become apartments soon.

Hah...someone actually guessed my high school.

Yes on all accounts. CMLPP was housed in the old Franklin school. It was a horrible building, but the student body was nice and small. They merged us into Soldan with the International Program from Roosevelt and the Roosevelt AFROTC program in September 1993 (I actually gave a speech in the auditorium session that announced the school to the world...go pr!). While I graduated from Soldan in '94, I'll always be an CMLPP kid at heart.

My wife holds the distinction of being in the last class to ever graduate from that school.

Hello,

I just happened to see your post about my old High School, (The Center for Management, Law and Public Policy) CMLPP. I graduated in 1991 and I remember thikning that the juniors at the time, would be last class to graduate from this school. The VERY long name of my High School made for some very interesting chat during some of my job interviews. Sometimes, they focused more on my High School than the College I attended!

OMG ~ I just happened to google MLPP! And found this site. I went there from 87-90! Mr. Katz was the pricipal at MLPP when I went there. And I remember a few of the teachers. Wish I could find more of the teachers who taught there. Cyr who are you married too? GSB you would have been in my graduating class! I transfered to Hazelwood because my decided that the city school were doing nothing for my education. So I moved in with my grandmother. I would LOVE to here from any MLPP alum! Email me at princessbummer at yahoo dot com!

I am an CMLPP alum, and there was no other experience like it, however I graduated from Soldan in 94.

-Karissa