Merge Elkhart High Schools

We are members of the seventh grade choir at West Side Middle School. For the past few weeks we have been discussing how Dr. Haworth wants to merge Elkhart Memorial and Elkhart Central into one school, and we think it is a good Idea because it will improve the choirs.Schools with higher enrollment rank higher at ISSMA contests. This year at ISSMA, North Central High School came in first place with 3,636 students enrolled. For mixed choirs, Franklin Central came in first place at ISSMA this year with 2,648 students enrolled. Both of these schools have a lot more students enrolled which proves larger schools rank better at ISSMA.This year, none of the choirs from Memorial or Central were in the top 10 choirs at the state ISSMA finals. Elkhart Memorial has 1,736 students enrolled and Elkhart Central has 1,773 students enrolled. Those larger schools have at least 41% more students, causing them to rank higher at ISSMA. If the Elkhart schools merge to one high school, then they will have a more competitive choir and a better chance at winning ISSMA which might also cause students to stay in our district.In conclusion, if Elkhart Central and Elkhart Memorial merge together, they will have more students enrolled and will be more likely to rank higher at ISSMA contests. This is why we encourage Elkhart Community Schools to merge the two high schools.Thank You,Madison Gray and Stefanie Warren