This board was put together in order to take stock of the current educational facilities and institutions in the area. It is simply a map of all the schools with a matrix below indicating what programs each school offers. I also identified charter schools and magnet schools. The research in the matrix is not entirely exhaustive, but I felt I got far enough with it that I could start to draw a few conclusions.
After making the map, I went on a tour of the neighborhood, visiting about half of the schools on the board. I would simply go in, introduce myself, ask them if the information I had about what institution was occupying the building was correct, and then I would ask if I could photograph the exterior.
Conclusions from this exercise:
-The model of education in this neighborhood seems to be shifting away from all inclusive, one stop shop for everyone, classically democratic neighborhood schools.
-This traditional model (though possibly more of a fairy tale than anything that ever actually existed) seems to be getting replaced by schools that are smaller and more specialized in the types of students they serve.
-These new schools are both charter schools AND schools run by the Minneapolis Public School system.
-These new schools are often culturally focused. For example there is a school that is almost exclusively Native American as well as one that is similarly Hmong.
-Parents are free to enroll their children in any institution, this creates competition between the schools and allows for SELF segregation.
-Many of the buildings these schools inhabit were not designed with any concept of this new educational model. As a result, many buildings now house multiple educational institutions. Some schools occupy former commercial buildings. The Four Directions Charter School is a good example of this, they occupy a store front on Broadway avenue.
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