Charlotte East Community Partners, Inc.

More News...from Hampshire Hills by Lena Pickens

Jul 10, 2003

I attended the advisory "Summoning The Village" meeting at Cochrane. School Board member, Louise Woods also attended. The principal shared that only one fight occurred at Cochrane during the last month. However, some students have now decided to do grafitti on some bathroom walls. The Principal has been
dealing with these issues and order has been restored.
Cochrane has a lot to shout about. It was interesting when the principal mentioned to Louise that she was disappointed the board awarded transfers to many students at the beginning of the year. Many went to Martin Middle where they added 21 additional security guards! (Should I say more?) Doris Wilson, the principal, mentioned that most of the parents chose to transfer because of the image of Cochrane and the neighborhood in the eyes of many Charlotteans.
Another discussion was about the business at the corner of the entrance to the school. It has been closed for some time. Many teachers and parents, as well as neighbors, have expressed concern over the "first impression" it gives
to persons coming to Cochrane. Officer Randy Baker mentioned he heard that Neighborhood Development is involved: they are pushing for it to be demolished. I certainly hope this is the case. I will follow up on this.
As Louise said, we need to shout more about all the good things that are happening in our schools and neighborhoods. Clean Up day was a success, but the media wasn't present!