The League for Public School Justice is a grass roots organization comprised of parents, students, & concerned community members. We are determined to keep Horace Mann Academy open and a public school of choice for the surrounding community.
The SAISD Board voted to close Horace Mann Academy and lease the property for an "All Girl" Charter School called the Young Women's Leadership Academy. This school is being funded with a $1 million gift from a dallas-based organization, Foundation for the Education of Young Women . For more interesting information on the Young Women's Leadership Academy please read more on the All Girls Academy page on this website.
We believe Superintendent Duron and the SAISD Board rushed this closure without engaging the members of the effected communities. We also believe the Horace Mann Academy did not meet the requirements for closure but was selected for another project and essentially evicting the students and banning them from going to a public school in the neighborhood where they live.
We have the support of our State Representative Trey Martinez-Fischer , former Mayor Ed Garza (2001-05) and District 7 Councilman Justin Rodriguez (who recently served on the SAISD Board before stepping down to run for City Council) and the neighborhood associations. But we need all the help we can get.
Horace Mann is an Academy (2yrs now).
It is a school of choice for any student in the District.
It is a Fine Arts Magnet School.
It is one of two Middle Schools that feed into Fine Arts Magnet School Thomas Jefferson High.
Horace Mann currently has 520 students enrolled, diverting these students to other schools will directly effect enrollment at Thomas Jefferson and put it in jeopardy of closure in the future.
Horace Mann students are prepared to systemically advance to Thomas Jefferson reinforcing the curriculum that Thomas Jefferson offers.
Horace Mann has developed programs that have earned them Grants for programs and learning materials (Dell Labs and Apple Computers) above what is provided by the District putting them on the cutting edge of Technology. We invite anyone interested in contacting us for a walk through tour of the facilities and see how Horace Mann Staff/Teachers and students have worked to incorporate all areas of the campus into the Benefits they have earned.
Dispite rumors of low enrollment spread by Superintendent Duron, Horace Mann Academy has only 2 empty classrooms and they are currently being used as labs and are designed to be used that way.
Horace Mann offers AVID and Gear Up programs that have proven to guide the Students towards College not just High School Graduation.
An All Girl School will mean bus traffic in the neighborhood to take local students to schools they are not able to walk to and automobile traffic bringing students in from outside the neighborhood to attend the new "All Girl" School.
Should an "All Girl" school not be successful there is a possibility that the Historic property will be vacant in a Historical Neighborhood and bring down property values, and may even do that should it stay open because a school in the area is not available.
We would like SAISD to consider a property....does not have to be a current school, that is better suited for their "All Girl" project. One that should the project not be successful have less of an impact on the community.
These are just a few reasons the school should be left open, there are many more. We hope you will support us as we rally to defend the right for our children to attend PUBLIC school in the neighborhood where they live and keeping the philosophies set forth by it's namesake alive.
THE LEAGUE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL JUSTICE
ONE BIG BATTLE, SMALL BATTALIONS
It is our goal to to raise public consciousness on SAISD's efforts to privatize our Public Schools. Joining us in our cause: