Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Ridgely Middle School


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus to delete; default to KEEP. - Philippe 18:54, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

Ridgely Middle School

 * ( [ delete] ) – (View AfD) (View log)

Should be merged/redirected to the district, Baltimore County Public Schools, per WP:School. As a lower level school, it is unlikely to have the required sources to pass WP:N and middle/elementary schools are not considered inherantly notable. This article fails to assert special notability, and does not list any reliable sources  JGHowes talk  -  19:11, 15 April 2008 (UTC) Delete NN just some school Dreamspy (talk) 20:49, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Speedy close If a merge is what you're after, then please place merge tags where necessary. Merge doesn't require deletion. Ten Pound Hammer  and his otters • (Broken clamshells•Otter chirps) 19:59, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Schools-related deletion discussions.   --  Beloved  Freak  20:50, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * So merge it to Baltimore County Public Schools as proposed. This school didn't need to come to AfD for that. • Gene93k (talk) 20:59, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Reply: To clarify, there's really no content to "merge"; the school is already listed at Baltimore County Public Schools. What's proposed is a redirect over a blanked page. For that, I'd rather have discussion for consensus than do so unilaterally.  JGHowes talk  -  22:21, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Merge vs. redirect is a matter editor discretion on how much (if anything) to transfer before redirecting. An editor can retrieve any worthwhile content at a later time. For lack of a formal protocol, talk pages are a better forum than AfD to discuss school merges. In the case of generally non-notable primary schools, propose a merge or merge-school, direct discussion to an appropriate talk page, and optionally notify other editors. If nobody objects in a reasonable amount of time, WP:be bold. • Gene93k (talk) 00:16, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment: Merge vote struck per new information. I'll take another look. • Gene93k (talk) 04:23, 16 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Redirect to the article on the school district as a plausible search term. We want to take the readers to where the information is. Additionally, there is need to delete to create a redirect. -- saberwyn 22:57, 15 April 2008 (UTC) Article appears to pass notability guidelines and concerns of nominator. As my redirect not-a-vote was based purely on navigational and information seeking needs, it is no longer relevant. No stance. -- saberwyn 05:48, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Maryland-related deletion discussions.   -- Fabrictramp (talk) 23:29, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Strong keep - as a national Blue Ribbon School (see here) meeting one of the key criteria of WP:SCHOOL. Separately, as expected, multiple, independent sources are available meeting WP:N. TerriersFan (talk) 03:27, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep Most elementary and middle schools are not notable; This one is. Recognition by the Blue Ribbon Schools Program supported by reliable sources, establishes notability. Alansohn (talk) 03:59, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment by nominator: In view of the substantial expansion of the article and inline citations contributed by TerriersFan and Alansohn in the wake of the AfD proposal, I'd concede that notability is now established by virtue of the subject being the only "Blue Ribbon" school in the state of Maryland. (added 4/20): For this reason, I didn't also nominate Dumbarton Middle School  because that school's article mentioned its "Blue Ribbon School" status.  JGHowes  talk  -  04:46, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete. Being a "Blue Ribbon School" doesn't make a middle school notable.  Nothing is ever said about the individual Blue Ribbon schools beyond simply listing them.  Look at what the article says: it mentions the Blue Ribbon but doesn't say anything about what may make this school special enough to earn it.  Blue Ribbon Schools Program says that schools can only receive the award once every five years, which is a blatant admission that the award doesn't recognize the best schools but is instead intended for publicity (i.e., propaganda) purposes, ensuring that as many politicians and school officials as possible will get their moment in the spotlight. Create List of Blue Ribbon Schools if you must, but it's a weak argument to use to support creation of articles on the awardees.  I believe there are many such primary and secondary school awards, nearly all of them trivial, but fans of school articles use them to argue for inclusion of every school, even unremarkable primary schools.  Quale (talk) 06:50, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment - this totally misrepresents the debate. Firstly no-one "argue for inclusion of every school, even unremarkable primary schools".  There is general acceptance that most primary schools are not-notable. The Blue Ribbon award is not trivial, fewer than 5% of schools have this status and it is arguably the one really meaningful award in the US and is the result of an independent assessment. TerriersFan (talk) 16:36, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Which means that potentially after 20 years, 100% of those schools would have earned this award. As I recall, you can receive it for being the most improved so being bad one year and then improving makes the school notable for an encyclopedia?  Simply not a reward on which to base notability.  Vegaswikian (talk) 06:02, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
 * It means nothing of the kind - less than 5% of schools in total since the scheme was introduced have attained this status - not 5% per year. The award is for the standard achieved not for simply improving. TerriersFan (talk) 10:46, 19 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Keep as per TerriersFan and JGHowes. NPOV, V, and NOR. Double Blue  (Talk) 01:32, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Merge or Redirect per the points above. Vegaswikian (talk) 06:02, 19 April 2008 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.