Dear Menlo Park City Council,
I have been a Menlo Park resident for eleven years and wanted to write and
express my concerns about your lease negotiations with the Menlo-Atherton
Co-Op. Our son has been attending the co-op for the past two years, and I
am not exaggerating when I saw it is a magical place. There is truly no
other school like it in the area, and we consider ourselves beyond lucky to
have found it. Our son has flourished there, and he has learned to love
school as a result of the safe and loving community the school creates.
As a result of the parent education provided by the school, we have become
better parents as a result of his attending. We also have become part of a
truly caring community where the other parents have become friends and we
have created a village in which we can rely on one other in the parenting
journey.
We chose the co-op because we repeatedly spoke to alumni parents who gave
impassioned testimonies about what an amazing place the school was. Some of
these people had sent their kids there 20+ years ago and still had such
fond memories of their time there.
I would urge you to please keep the co-op in the home it’s had for the past
seventy years with a long-term lease. It is such a vital part of the Menlo
Park community, and it would be a true loss to parents and children across
our community to let it go.
Sincerely,
Amanda Sullivan
