What nonsense.
Larger classes, more discipline problems, taking rooms away from teachers who support math, literacy, social studies and otherwise connect & support the academics.
Many students learn volumes by this support. Cramming students and staff and taking rooms away from specials isn't the answer.
The elementary schools were once failing and due to dedication, many hours and often painful work, they have turned around. Gallon afraid to tackle the problems in the Junior Highs? He's creating more problems instead of fixing what needs to be fixed.
What happens to all those empty rooms in the Junior High? What happens to the teachers who will now have many free periods since all these students will be missing? Will they be moved to the elementary schools? I say SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE JUNIOR HIGHS AND NOT CREATE MORE.
The Alpha Academy only has 50 students and many of them cut classes. That's a huge building. It previously housed an entire elementary school. Should 5&6 be there? Give it some thought before you make more problems.
2 years and eleven months ago a Q&A from Bernice, Plaintalker, to former superintendent, Dr. Gallon III on the 2009 reconfiguration of elementary schools brought a comment, posted above, that I had not read until today. Whoever wrote that comment back then hopefully is still around as her/his comment came true to many of us who stayed at PPS due to the fact that 6th Graders could stay at their elementary schools "one more year". Big mistake. Overcrowded classrooms and corridors, overextended teachers, rushed lunch time and cranky staff, all these "thanks" to the added 6th grade.
So, who had the foresight back then but was not listened to? Are you still here?
5 comments:
Maria,
You should provide more balanced reporting: seven (7) out of nine (9) comments on that story were positive about the grade configuration and supported the move. Among those that praised the grade reconfiguration at the time was the current president of the Plainfield BOE. Only two (2) of the nine (9) comments were negative.
This is not to say that the concerns of this commenter were not valid. In fact, the commenter points out some very important issues. However, if all of the comments were considered together as a whole, you would see a bigger story emerging.
-The parents of middle school age students supported the change, even if some teachers did not.
-The plan was based on well thought out consideration of conditions and attitudes in our community.
-The initial reconfiguration was just the beginning of a larger overall movement toward reconfiguring more schools in the district.
Now that we are discussing school reconfiguration again, we need to think about the progress that has already been made, look at the challenges posed by those changes, and come up with a plan on how to move forward.
The depopulation of Hubbard and Maxson Middle Schools as a result of grade reconfiguration and the opening of PAAAS creates an opportunity to do creative things with those two buildings. We know that PAAAS has been very successful and that the biggest criticism of it has been that more students cannot attend.
Well, why don't we look at the available space at Hubbard and/or Maxson as an opportunity to create other Magnate High Schools that include grades 7-12? Wouldn't it be great if we had a had a Science High School with concentrations in Engineering and Allied Health Sciences?
With less students in the main high school building, we could use that additional space to bring back technical training for those students that are interested in transitioning directly into work after high school. Providing these students with technical training along with the core academics will improve their interest in staying in school and graduating as well as seeing the value of learning math and reading.
You will be surprised how many of them will pursue additional education after graduation in the fields they study in high school. Providing technical education in high schools is a great alternate route to higher education and transitions into rewarding careers.
Using our buildings more wisely will help us provide educational options to our students that meet their needs and interests. This in turn will lead to more successful students.
The overcrowding problems the district is facing is due to a stalled overhaul of the entire district. We need to put politics aside and get back to the work of configuring our schools in a manner that best meets the needs of our students.
We have an opportunity to do great things right now. Let's not waste it.
12:17,
All sounds like a great idea, and a very thoughtful approach, but...where is the community input on all of this? The opportunity to do great things has always been there, but the solo approach that the school board and district often take is what keeps the school district from becoming a trusted and valuable community entity. So, we shall see what Monday news bring at the Community Forum. Thanks.
The community has two choices:
1 - Go to the community forum to be told what is going to be done by the Board of Education
OR
2 - Go to the community forum and tell the Board of Education what the community wants to happen with our schools.
Community participation should not end in the voting booths. If we want our schools to move forward, then we must demand that those in charge make decisions that reflect the will of the community.
7:09,
The community can only demand what they know about, so far, communications from the BOE and district have been poorly communicated or extracted via OPRA. Thanks.
Not all parents in the district feel that communication is poor. My childs school sends home information every few days, uses the phone message system, and uses the "ebookbag" thing on the schools web page and tells parents to visit that site to check in on all programs in addition to what is sent home. Some schools do a good job of informing the parents and the web site is considerably more informational than it was just a few years ago. That phone message system is used by my childs school to check daily attendance - is also now regularly used to inform of upcoming events. We, as parents, must attend meetings and be more vocal ... it is not always the "board", "school", or "districts" fault.
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