Dear Editor:
The Wilson School Building is no longer needed because enrollment in the public schools has been steadily declining over the past 25 years. Why are so many Weehawken children being sent to private school?
Later this year the township will sign the final three-year lease with Union City. Three years may be enough time for a committee made up of private school parents, public school parents and educators to take a serious look at augmenting the successful programs and introducing new programs into the Weehawken school curriculum.
If a few hundred private school parents can be convinced that public school can offer an excellent and well-rounded education for their children, Wilson School will be needed for Weehawken children. Well-rounded is the key here; Weehawken seems to have tunnel vision about sports to the near exclusion of all else.
In the 21 years I have lived in Weehawken the public school children have never been taken to a museum in New York City. They have not seen the spectacular Egyptian collection and the great paintings at the Metropolitan, nor the dinosaurs and the DNA exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History. Young minds are like sponges – they absorb everything. Why not expose them to some of the greatest art, science and history in the world? Broadening children’s horizons will make an enormous difference in their lives and aspirations for their future careers.
Making Weehawken schools a viable choice will also save Wilson School. Judith Wadia