Changes to the elementary school concert schedule sparked the attention of many in the community and was the №3 most read story of 2017.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a countdown of the top 10 most read stories on www.cherryhillsun.com in 2017. To see the full countdown, visit https://cherryhillsun.com/2017-year-in-review/home.
The community came before the Cherry Hill Board of Education with numerous concerns in 2017. One of the biggest concerns residents brought forth was a change to the elementary school concert schedule.
The original story on the issue, published on The Cherry Hill Sun website on Feb. 27, discussed a letter sent home with elementary school parents stating concerts at all elementary schools would be held during the school day.
The letter stated, “The elementary principals and the elementary music teachers have discussed the concept of day time concerts, the benefits to the students and the impact on the music program. As a school district, one of our most successful academic areas is music. Our goal is to enhance and to increase student participation in our programs and to increase retention in the music programs as children progress from elementary to middle school and from middle school to high school.”
The change brought forward many upset parents, who said they would be unable to attend their child’s concert if it was moved to the day.
“As a working parent, I do not necessarily have the ability to take off from work to attend a concert during the day,” parent Laurie Neary wrote on a petition to change the concerts back to night time. “You are eliminating the ability of a large portion of the student body parents from enjoying the fruits of their child’s labor, and this is unacceptable.”
After about a month of discussion, the school district reversed its decision, re-instating nighttime concerts at the elementary school.
To read the full story, visit https://cherryhillsun.com/cherry-hill-parents-upset-about-change-in-elementary-school-concert-schedule-5a5d4858c4b4
