“To Virgo or not to Virgo”: Examining the Closure and Reopening of a Neighborhood School in a Predominantly African American Community

Abstract

Neighborhood schools engender the idea that schools can be integral community centers, with learning facilitated by the personal relationships developed among teachers, administrators, students, and parents. Neighborhood schools also have represented stigmatized segregated spaces located in communities with high poverty rates, low high school graduation rates, and little opportunity for social mobility. Drawing from print and online media sources related to the closure and reopening of D.C. Virgo Middle School (Virgo), a racially- and economically-segregated middle school in an urban, southern community, this study uses conceptual content analysis to examine the competing discourses surrounding Virgo. The authors conclude that the public discourse examined herein represents the tension between public schools as stigmatizing beloved spaces. As a stigmatizing space, the school can transfer the stigmatized identity to associated students and personnel. As a beloved space, the school can nurture possibility and hope.