Support the Japanese Research Residency
Our advocacy for the 8th grade Japan Research Residency and other 8th grade DLI capstone exchanges was necessarily put on hold during the teachers’ strike. Now that the kids are back in school, it’s time to get back on track!
If you already sent an email to one or more of the PPS school board members or administrators regarding the 2024 JRR, please resend your message now.
If you have not contacted the school board or administration to let them know how valuable the JRR is, please consider emailing them today! Below is a template for a letter you can use, or feel free to create your own.
We recognize that there are a lot of concerns that parents want to address with the PPS school board, and the urgent approval of the JRR and other DLI capstones is just one of them. It’s important to stress that the ten school days our students spend in Japan are not “missed classroom hours” – they are a significant part of an academically rigorous educational program that has been recognized as a model for intercultural understanding and language learning across the country – by our own superintendent and school board, even.
(Watch the Feb. 7, 2022, school board meeting for more. The conversation begins with PPS School Board Member Julia Brim-Edwards at timestamp 39:15; Superintendent Guerrero extols the virtues of our language immersion programs at timestamp 1:11:33. Note that the board voted unanimously to allow the exchange to go forward.)
Please take a few minutes to write to the PPS school board and administrators below. Don’t forget to copy the MTMS principal and JDLI Capstone Leaders.
PPS Superintendent:
- Guadalupe Guerrero – gguerrero@pps.net
PPS Administrators:
- Christyn McCloskey (MTMS) – cmccloskey@pps.net
- Margaret Calvert (Assistant Superintendent) – mcalvert@pps.net
Mt. Tabor Middle School Principal:
- Tonya Longo (MTMS) – tlongo@pps.net
JDLI Capstone Leaders:
- Matt Bacon-Brenes – mbaconbr@pps.net
- Yuuki Sakai – ysakai@pps.net
You can also reach out to the PPS School Board members:
- Andrew Scott (Zone 1) – anscott@pps.net
- Michelle DePass (Board Chair, Zone 2) – mdepass@pps.net
- Patte Sullivan (Zone 3) – psullivan@pps.net
- Herman Greene (Zone 4) – Hermangreene@pps.net
- Gary Hollands (Zone 5) – ghollands@pps.net
- Julia Brim-Edwards (Zone 6) – jbrim-edwards@pps.net
- Edward (Eddie) Wang (Zone 7) – eddiewang@pps.net
- Francesca (Frankie) Silverstein (student representative) – fsilverstein@pps.net
NOTE: The below linked version of the template, originally designed for all 8th grade DLI families to use, has been slightly altered to allow non-8th-grade families to easily adapt it to their own situation. Please personalize as appropriate!
Background Information (from 10/29/2023 email)
As you know, children who are enrolled in one of the Dual Language Immersion programs have been expecting a culminating project in 8th grade as part of the curriculum design. There are many names for this: “Research Residency,” “Capstone Project,” and “8th grade trip (to Japan, China, or Vietnam).”
The Capstone Project this Spring 2024 and all future Capstone trips are in danger of being curtailed and we need your help NOW as well as over the next few months to advocate for our kids’ curriculum. In doing so we can ensure the decades long precedent and proven Research Residency culminates with this opportunity in going to the country associated with their language program. Even if your child is not a current 8th grader, we are appealing to the families of all DLI program students – past, present, and future – for help.
Earlier this fall, we received disturbing news that certain PPS administrators decided the capstone project is not a “very exceptional case.” Wording is important because this designation of NOT being a “very exceptional case” does not allow students to be in the country for over 5 days, according to a strict interpretation of the current PPS policy.
This designation undermines the educational curriculum that our students have been preparing for since Kindergarten. These programs are exceptional and represent the culmination of nine years of devotion of our students, teachers, interns, administrators, families, and community members who have been coordinating and conducting these exchanges for over 20 years. These Research Residency projects will be inoperable under this new designation.
We need PPS to hear your voice and your story in encouraging the administration to reverse this decision and make the Capstone Project a “very exceptional case” again.
Please write directly to Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero and cc the PPS administrators using the template above. Personalize your email and share your unique perspective, in the areas highlighted in yellow. Please be sure to cc the school’s DLI Capstone leaders as well.
Thanks in advance for being fierce in your advocacy for kids to remain in this very exceptional project the way it was intended.