Please read: St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Adams presented his consolidation plan on Tuesday. Among ten other schools recommended for closure is Sumner High School in the Ville. We are writing to express the strongest possible opposition to that part of the plan. (1/7)

The Ville is a historically Black neighborhood in north St. Louis and, along with Harlem and the South Side of Chicago, one of the most culturally significant African American communities in the country. (2/7)

Sumner is the first Black high school west of the Mississippi and has the most distinguished alumni of any school in the region: Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, Arthur Ashe, opera stars Grace Bumbry and Robert McFerrin, comedian-activist Dick Gregory and many, many more. (3/7)

That legacy of greatness is an invaluable inspiration for St. Louisans young and old. It cannot be replaced or recreated. (4/7)

The 1908 building was designed by William B. Ittner, also the architect of the Scottish Rite Cathedral & Continental Life Building in Grand Center, the Missouri Athletic Club downtown & 430 schools nationwide–dozens of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. (5/7)

We ask the Board of Education to consider other options to address the great spatial and financial challenges it faces. We urge its members not be party to yet another tragic example of disinvestment in North St. Louis and to find a way to save Sumner.(6/7)

No effort should be spared to ensure it remains a vital and vibrant space for learning, growth, and advancement.

Two ways you can help: (1) Submit your feedback on SLPS's consolidation plan here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=az3jCFSmakiA4yCxkK4i1_jfPW193mBCl3kFVBZ4fbJUOUdEVlVPS0s2MlgzWThLSjJCOFo3UkdaTS4u
(2) attend the Virtual Town Hall at 6p on Tue, Dec 8.