A Short History of Rieke, v. 3 (2006-present)

In early 2006, Rieke was again caught up in a district-driven plan to close and consolidate schools throughout the City.  And once again, Rieke parents and the surrounding community mobilized and successfully fought the closure, though only after committing to work with the district to expand Rieke's enrollment.   More details after the break....

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A Short History of Rieke, v.2 (2003-2006)

The long, steady decline in PPS elementary enrollment (from its very crowded early-'70's high) led the district to close a number of schools throughout the 1980s and 1990s.  By 2003, the rolling closure wagon appeared to be heading toward Rieke. Email communications in January of that year suggested that PPS staff was preparing a recommendation to go to Interim Superintendent Jim Scherzinger that would propose closing Rieke and several other schools in the district. While that proposal was ultimately dropped after opposition from the parental community, a second proposal for closure came in 2006 under the leadership of Superintendent Vicki Philips. After the jump, I describe in further detail how the Rieke community came together to keep the school open in 2003; in Part III, I discuss the closure proposals in 2006, and take us through the present.

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A Short History of Rieke, v.1 (Construction to 2003)

I think the only way to really understand the current growth in enrollment at Rieke is to understand its recent (and maybe not-so-recent) history. In this and a couple of subsequent posts, I'll try and summarize what's happened over the years, and what led up to the Rieke Growth Plan and the current increases in enrollment. Comments welcome; this first installment addresses the construction of the school through 2003; you can find full details after the jump.
[Originally posted 11/18/08; Bumped upon Publishing Part III]

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