360 High School students walk out after announcement of merger

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Two Providence schools are set to merge after the end of this school year.

Wednesday after school lunch, students at 360 High School walked out, protesting against plans for their school to merge with Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex.

Students are upset their teachers are not a part of the merge.

“They say they are going to take 360’s culture, but not their teachers, but you can’t take the culture without the teachers,” senior Nurkis Payamps said.

Families and staff at both schools were made aware that the two schools will become the Juanita Sanchez Life Sciences Institute Tuesday afternoon from the Providence Public school District.

The combined school will launch next year with a focus on preparing Providence students for high growth and high wage industries in the life sciences.

Current students will be welcomed to join the classes at Juanita Sanchez or they can choose to attend another school.

The district said the school is known to be an underperformer.

The students walked with signs in hand, chanting their school’s name, traveling from their high school all the way to the district office on Westminster Street, more than two miles away.

“We are not going to give up just because you keep telling us to leave we are not going to leave, we are going to keep fighting for our school,” Payamps said.

The district said students who left school will be marked for skipping class and will have to make up any work that they missed.