Three of our children have thrived at Montello School. The teaching staff is outstanding, as is their morale and pride in their school. Our youngest child has had the opportunity to be in the classes of both a “Teacher of the Year” and a Milliken Award winner. My wife volunteered one or two days a week in the classroom for the past three years. We are involved, and know Montello Elementary School intimately.

That being said, we have transferred our youngest child to a different school. It was an extremely difficult decision, that my wife and I spent many days deliberating. The deciding factor was this: opportunity.

Montello is under pressure to increase Maine Educational Assessment scores. The goal is to meet or exceed the minimum standards determined by the state. To reach this goal, we felt the majority of effort will go toward those students not meeting the goals, and the students at the higher end of the scale would have less opportunity to advance at the same rate.

Our child has the opportunity to attend a small school, with less pressure on the administration, staff, and students to meet the minimum standards. We will evaluate her progress and our decision to transfer her.

In our opinion, Montello has too many students for its resources, and we look forward to our child returning to Montello after the overcrowding has been alleviated by the redistribution of students after the new Pettingill School is built.

Jeff and Karen Johnson, Lewiston