To the Communities of Cooper and Pathfinder:

On Sept. 18, 2006, I made a Preliminary Recommendation for Phase II of school consolidations and closures. The included the recommendation to close the Genesee Hill building where Pathfinder is now located and to move the Pathfinder students to Cooper, and for both schools to collaborate to create a strong alternative K-8 program that will integrate and serve the needs of students from both programs.

We realize that many people have read the recommendation to mean that the Pathfinder program will move intact into the Cooper building and that if Cooper students chose to stay they would be welcome. That is not our intention. We want to be very clear about what this recommendation means:

The Cooper and Pathfinder communities will work together to create an expanded (sic) the vision of an alternative school inclusive of Pathfinder and Cooper's successful programs. We recognize that students from both schools will bring unique gifts and create opportunities to enhance the program. We expect that the planning committee, which will include representatives of both schools, will look at student needs, and, using the best practices, develop programming that will best serve the needs of all students.

Principal Dockendorf and Principal Rutherford will be working closely together to ensure that the transition goes as smoothly as possible. This includes developing activities that will allow students and families to get to know each other. I will be asking each of them to appoint members to the "planning committee" that includes parents and teachers. This planning committee will work together to develop the concept of the school.

It is our goal that all Cooper and Pathfinder students will find that the renewed alternative program meets their needs, and that current students in both programs will wish to stay in the school. We have a unique opportunity to create a truly diverse school that can meet the needs of all students, and we look forward to helping you make that dream a reality.

Raj Manhas, Superintendent