Friday Open Thread
Well hello there.
Back from hiatus and a big thank you (and good job) to Charlie who kept this thing going quite nicely. I did read from afar a couple of times but true to my word to myself, I did not comment or post.
(And by the way, a BIG thank you to all our readers. Our numbers continue to soar and it's quite amazing. I like to think that parents are offering this site up as a place for information, discussion and insight. Ask your PTA to consider a blurb about it for your school newsletter. We are virtually the only instrument of connection among schools in this district and are happy to be that for this community.)
Yes, I know from the timestamp that it's not quite Friday but I am suffering some jet lag and can't hold out much longer. Wanted to get this up sooner rather than later. (But travel does invigorate the mind and the soul so I'm back happy and refreshed.)
I see there are many threads to comment on and new ones to write about but that will be for this weekend.
What's on your mind?
Back from hiatus and a big thank you (and good job) to Charlie who kept this thing going quite nicely. I did read from afar a couple of times but true to my word to myself, I did not comment or post.
(And by the way, a BIG thank you to all our readers. Our numbers continue to soar and it's quite amazing. I like to think that parents are offering this site up as a place for information, discussion and insight. Ask your PTA to consider a blurb about it for your school newsletter. We are virtually the only instrument of connection among schools in this district and are happy to be that for this community.)
Yes, I know from the timestamp that it's not quite Friday but I am suffering some jet lag and can't hold out much longer. Wanted to get this up sooner rather than later. (But travel does invigorate the mind and the soul so I'm back happy and refreshed.)
I see there are many threads to comment on and new ones to write about but that will be for this weekend.
What's on your mind?
Comments
It could use more discussion participants, though I know there are active readers.
http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/sps-dvf/
Ann D
http://www.stevenspta.org/
Ann D.
Does anyone know what is up?
They're repaving the parking lot? They're building a Tower Of Obedience which will beam the Glory Of His Brilliance from the Bill and Melinda Gate$ Foundation, as well Lakeside-Where-Class-Size-Doesn't-Matter?
Final question, and, as someone who has skimmed this blog for several years, this really really is a DUMB question -
Why did the district wait until 2 weeks into the start of the school year to do a project on scores of parking places? Do they go out of their way to make people think they're just disgustingly incompetent? Wow, I
MeanWow
Fascinating article in The Atlantic suggesting we take sports out of educaiton.
There might be other details about the project but the outside looks much better and they project concluded before the summer was over.
Ann D
-Ian
I thought they had to be out be the 18th - or we were going to lose state funds for the renovation. What are the consequences for allowing the use of district property by private individuals without receiving market-rate compensation?
Lynn
Three women and a charter schools movement
Lynne Varner is hyperventilating over the prospect
another smart tool in the educational toolbox!
EdVoter
-sps mom
that interacts with it is quite odd. In part I assume that is due to the fact that the elementary school that would be naturally serving a huge chunk of the population is closed, but live there and could for the most part walk to school if it was open as an elementary school. I am sure that the District wanted to make sure that District V had a balance of schools represented that served the students living there.
Ann D.
"Blaine's principal and the 7/8th grade team recently cancelled the 20+ tradition of sending 8th graders to camp in May. This announcement came right before this evenings "Back to School" night and 8th grade fundraiser.Unfortunately, the parents were told this change ,early this week without any chance for parents to be part of this decision.
It's sad that this "rite of passage" opportunity will be lost. More importantly, it's a huge crime that parents weren't allowed in on the conversation. The lack of family engagement is an all to familiar pattern at Blaine."
I would definitely register a complaint to your Board director and Executive Director. I would want to understand how a principal could unilaterally make this decision without any notification or inclusion of parents.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Lynn
I'm sorry - I didn't mean it to be a negative comment about Garfield. I think it's a wonderful school with wonderful staff and have never felt unsafe there. It made me sad too - and made me wonder what I'm missing.
Lynn
Lynn, you may not be missing anything. You would have to have gotten more information to understand the remark. It is a long discussion about all the possible reasons. I think a feeling of isolation breeds fear and anxiety. Feeling that you do not trust the other peers and friends that you know who are going to attend the school and want and need some distance to establish a new set of friends, feeling that others who are entering have a connection to the school and that you do not, feeling that if you are African American, you will be expected to show up for sports when that is not your interest (or another stereotype and the relationship to the school),or feeling that a large comprehensive high school is not the right fit can all be contributing factors, along with others. I think you may hear one person saying something like this about anyone of our high schools. Sometimes it is due to a personal experience or a friend that has a beef with that school for some reason. Speculation can go on and on. You would have to go to the source to find out what the reason is. I doubt that he (maybe it is his family) is representative of all and that there are some individual circumstances involved. I am always concerned to think that a child or adult does not feel safe in a school or in a neighborhood. Sometimes a setting has a very high reputation for safety, but a person feeling isolated will not feel safe. Public safety and feeling safe is a social justice issue. Fear is not good for brain development.
another reader
How then could I find out if there is an environment in a school (for at least some of the students) that needs to be improved? If Garfield had a reputation for being unsafe, I would not have had to ask. It was so surprising to me because I haven't heard a hint of it anywhere. The community seems (justifiably) proud of it's school.
Lynn
another reader
Was there really no media coverage of the Town Hall debate on standardized testing? I haven't seen any mentions anywhere and search isn't showing anything either.
When will the 2012-13 school climate reports be made available?
Ann D
"I Quit Teach for America"
Five weeks of training was not enough to prepare me for a room of 20 unruly elementary-schoolers.
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/i-quit-teach-for-america/279724/
- Muir Mom