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Posts Tagged ‘parent involvement’

A Rarely Heard Story

Posted in Gifted, In the News, School, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 7, 2009 | 8 Comments »

I’m pleased to direct you to a story that appears this week in our little bitty local freebie newspaper, The Takoma Voice.  But the story is anything but little bitty.

Sue Katz Miller, one very involved Takoma Park parent and most excellent writer, devotes her School Scene column to a question and answer with Denise Jones, a former NAACP Parents Council Representative.  Ms. Jones removed her daughter from MCPS, enrolled her in private school–and in this frank conversation talks gifted education in MCPS and why she ultimately decided to leave.  Do read it.  Trust me, it’s a must-read.

Hers is a rarely heard story.  But we here in the Red Zone, Down County part of Montgomery County know it’s not unusual.  Just last week I was getting on the Metro and ran into an African-American mom I know. She’s an environmental policy person; her husband is fluent in Russian and does foreign policy work.  We got to know a each other a few years ago while waiting in line to vote, and as it turned out she was a friend of a friend.  Our paths continued to cross, and whenever they did, talk inevitably turned to our kids, our elementary school and gifted education…or the lack thereof.  I remember one very deep conversation at a Christmas party and how frustrated she was.  Well, that morning on the Metro she told me that both of her kids are now attending a local private school.

Two more bright African-American students with well-educated, involved parents–gone.

The ones who leave and homeschool. The ones who go private.  Nope.  Not even on MCPS’s radar screen.  MCPS has no way of hearing, and more importantly no interest in hearing, why these families choose to leave.  If MCPS truly wishes to improve, to be a “learning community,” then it might start by listening to those who have said, “No, thanks.”

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Rush Sneers at Takoma Kids

Posted in In the News, School, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 24, 2009 | 3 Comments »

My, my, my.  Just the other day I wrote about the newest crop of young Takoma Park activists:  3rd 4th and 5th graders at Piney Branch Elementary School who are lobbying the school system to get rid of Styrofoam cafeteria trays and replace them with durable trays and a dishwasher.  The Post also did a story on them.

And now, it seems, Rush Limbaugh, who is singularly peeved.

Here’s a transcript of his recent on-air remarks, courtesy of a blog called the Bully Pulpit:

Rush Limbaugh’s Morning Update: Priorities

From Rush Limbaugh: A recent Washington Post article starts like this: “Casting about for a cause, the Young Activist Club at Piney Branch Elementary settled on something close to hand: the 250 polystyrene trays and plastic utensils discarded daily in the school cafeteria.”

The story details the Young Activist Club’s struggles – trying to get rid of Styrofoam trays at their elementary school, so they can save the earth. The school is located in Takoma Park, Maryland, a D.C. suburb. Despite support from school officials, the school system higher-ups object to banning the disposable Styrofoam and plastic items – because it would mean higher school operating costs and increases to school meal prices.

But the little activists have already raised $9,000 from foundations and other sources to purchase a dishwasher and flatware. Eight-year-old Margot Bloch explains: “Polystyrene trays are bad for the environment and they have a big carbon footprint and they’re made out of oil, which is bad for the environment, because it makes global warming.” The girl’s mom – a “peace activist” – is a sponsor of the Young Activist Club. Last year, by the way, the club was involved in “polar bear protection.”

So … what’s the lesson here? Easy. American schools – especially in blue states – are nothing more than indoctrination camps for the next generation of young liberal activists who will someday run the Democrat Party. As for kids getting an education? That’s much lower on the list of priorities.

Swoon

Ah, don’t mess with Takoma Park, Rush.  A parent is pitching the story to the Daily Show!

Thought Jon and the Daily Show could put this tidbit to good use.  Rush Limbaugh recently ridiculed my son’s club…. for full effect, you really should listen to his podcast, where he spares no expense at mocking an 8-year-old for her efforts on behalf of the environment.

This piece is ripe for social commentary and humor; there’s Rush being a classic ass and there is also the entrenched bureaucracy of a school board that refuses to even talk to the Young Activists.  It’s a two-fer.

Would be happy to put you in contact with the club members, club parent volunteers (or “Peace Activists” as Rush so scathingly referred to them) but not the school board who refuses to talk even to parents (but maybe Jon could charm them?  Give it a shot).

Many thanks,

Oh, how I would love the Daily Show to come to Montgomery County (yes, I am a huge fan).  The hard decision, of course, would be which Special Correspondent to send.  Samantha Bee? John Oliver?  Or Jason Jones?  Can’t you just see it?

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Grrrreat News! Playing Field Update

Posted in School, tagged , , , , , , , on June 21, 2009 | 5 Comments »

Well it seems I was too pessimistic in reporting that Eastern Middle School had failed in its effort to get its playing field renovated courtesy of the Kellogg’s Plant-a-Seed contest.  As it turns out, they were among the winners!

Hello Eastern Middle School community and friends,

Late yesterday, I received an email from Kellogg’s saying that Eastern Middle School — got that drum roll going? — has been selected as one of 30 fields in the country to receive field improvements/ renovations!  Yep, we did it!  We went from a late night (and practically forgotten) nomination whim, to a semifinalist in practically last place out of 100 fields with only 24 votes in early May, to ninth place and 23,554 votes only three weeks later!  Who would have guessed?  Well, Ben Yeatts-Lonske certainly did, with his incredible and inspirational vote-by-vote tracking of the situation, and Aileen Hilliard and Judith Arbacher and Beth Sperber Ritchie and Susan Thomas and many many others who Ben cited in his June 2 wrap-up email as having sent out reminders, emails to other lists, etc.  Congratulations everyone, and get ready to enjoy a brand new field!  Kellogg’s will probably organize a celebration once the renovation is done (and if they don’t we will).  But, let’s organize something sooner at the field in the next week or so to celebrate this win.  Any suggestions?

If you did contact any listservs and community or personal contacts, please spread the news that Eastern is among the winners!  Also, because school is out for the summer, please share the news with any EMS families you are able to contact who might not be on this listserv or might not have a computer.

Let’s keep this momentum going for making Eastern a stellar example of all things cooperative and scholastic, with parents, teachers, and students working together for the single purpose of providing the best education possible for our kids who, afterall, is what this is all about.

Jim Laurenson

Congratulations to the Eastern Community!

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Start ‘em Young

Posted in School, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 17, 2009 | 4 Comments »

They start their activists young in Takoma Park, affectionately known as the People’s Republic of Takoma Park, Berkeley East…

Dear Supporters of Our Community,

We, the undersigned Young Activist Club of Piney Branch Elementary School (PBES) in Takoma Park, are raising money so we can get rid of disposable Styrofoam trays in our school. (We are 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.) The trays are very bad for the environment and very bad for your brain and they are burned in the incinerator and the stuff that is left over is put in the landfill. We think this is a huge waste of money, both because we have to pay to buy the trays made from fossil fuels, and we only use them for a few minutes, and then we have to pay again to get them burned. Also, we have learned that Styrofoam is made from styrene, which is a poison. We don’t want these bad things in our school and we want to make our carbon footprint smaller. So we want to get durable trays and a tray washer. We need your help!

We are raising money to buy the washer and reusable trays. The Takoma Foundation will give us $2,000 but only if we raise money to match it. Please consider donating toward our $8,000 goal and helping us receive the $2,000 match from the Foundation. Any amount would be great! Make your check out to the PBES PTA.

We think our Takoma Park elementary school should be a pilot for the county, and maybe even the country. You can help us green our school and our community.

We would be so happy to get your money.

Sincerely,

Cate C., Clara K., Chimey S., Japneet K., Kira G., Margot B., Alexander P., Julian P., Heather D., Emily F.

The Young Activist Club c/o PTA
Piney Branch Elementary School
7510 Maple Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912

Not surprisingly, MCPS is less than impressed, as you can read in this Washington Post article.

Montgomery school officials said they are considering biodegradable alternatives to foam. But they rejected the school’s proposal to wash and dry its own dishes in a brief June 1 memo, citing “a number of operational issues,” including labor costs, that led them to disposable trays in the first place.

Trays aside, I’ve always been amazed at the level of crappy that is the MCPS school lunch program.  Seriously, the school lunches are nasty.  Meanwhile Baltimore–BALTIMORE!–actually has kids growing food in greenhouses and using food grown in Maryland!  Read about it here.

As important as the food is the connection with staff members and students in the lunchroom. In middle schools, Geraci asks students to help design menus or create music playlists that match the ethnic theme of a menu. In elementary schools, cafeterias are offering “no-thank-you bites.”

Doesn’t that sound civilized?  I would bet that ultimately it contributes to saner lunchrooms.  And I like this quote from the school system’s food service director:

the key is putting staff members in place who are capable of and committed to change. “We would be appalled to hire a math teacher that doesn’t understand addition and subtraction,” Geraci said, repeating another of his favorite lines. “So why are we not appalled when we hire people to run multimillion-dollar food systems who don’t understand food?

“The system is broken, man,” Geraci said. “We can keep putting Band-Aids on the thing. Or we can fix it.”

Please–tell when was the last time you saw an MCPS employee go on the record with a quote like that?  Inconceivable!  Seriously, Montgomery County can do better.

Meanwhile that other renegade Takoma Park effort, vis a vis redrawing down county school boundaries, is moving forward.  StoptheProcess.org has become ReopentheProcess.org.  You can also keep abreast of things on the Takoma Park/East Silver Spring Boundaries blog.

P.S.  If you are so moved, here are the ways to support the young Activists through tax-deductible donations:

  1. with cash or check (made out to PBES-PTA), brought or mailed to: PTA Dishwasher Fund, Piney Branch Elementary School, 7510 Maple Avenue,TP, MD 20912
  2. by Paypal at http://sites.google.com/site/pbespta/fundraising-2,  Please note “Dishwasher Fund”.(Please use this only for donations <$500. Paypal takes 3% off the top, so if you can send a check, your money goes farther! )

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The Meeting: A Play in One Act

Posted in Gifted, School, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 6, 2009 | 14 Comments »

The setting:  An elementary school classroom anywhere in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The actors:  The parent of a second grade student, a teacher.

Parent:  Thank you for taking the time to see my today, Ms. Smith.

Teacher:  Thank you for coming in, Ms. Jones.  What can I do for you today?

Parent:  Well, I recently received the letter about the second grade GT screening and I have some questions about what it means. For example, the letter doesn’t include what the benchmarks are for the InView.  In fact, it doesn’t say if Emily met the benchmarks.  The letter did give the benchmarks for the Raven—but it doesn’t say what it means to score well above the benchmark.  And while it does give a percentile for the Raven, what does the percentile mean?  Is that a national standard?  A county standard?  Something else?

Teacher:   Hmmm.  Er.  Umm.  Well, you should know that Emily is doing very well.  She’s reading above grade level!  You have nothing to worry about.

Parent:  Umm.  Okay.  But I have some other questions as well.  Can you tell me—anonymously of course!—how these scores compare to the rest of the second graders with whom she’ll be receiving GT services?  Not just how many others “met the criteria”—no, no, I don’t want to know to show off! (pre-emptively conciliatory)—but to get a sense of how the kids are clustered.  In other words, does she have true peers, or not?  And can you share with me what the other teachers and staff said about her?  Even though she’s met the identification criteria, I see that some of her teachers have rated her below the criteria in some other areas, such as leadership.  As a parent, I’d like to know that.  That will tell me something about the services she’s receiving and any areas we need to work on with her.

Teacher: Um, uh, well, um.  We really can’t talk about other students or share those teacher evaluations.  But I can tell you that she is working above grade level and there are lots of other students who are also above grade level, so you have nothing to worry about.  As for services, (teacher brightens) we do Jacob’s Ladder and Junior Great Books, and in the second half of the year some students will get William and Mary…

Parent:  But it’s my understanding that Jacob’s Ladder is not a program for gifted students.  It’s “scaffolding” to help bring students up.

Teacher: Hmm.  I see you’ve done your homework (frowns slightly).

Parent:  And I’ve also heard that Junior Great Books and William and Mary are being offered to all students at all schools now.

Teacher:  Really? (Purses lips.) Well, our understanding is that it’s encouraged but not mandated.  Emily will get Jacobs Ladder and Junior Great Books starting next year in third grade…  Oh, and of course we’ll accelerate in math….

Parent: But if Junior Great Books is appropriate for all students then it isn’t really a GT “service,” is it?  Can you tell me what GT services will she be getting? She’s not a particularly mathy kid.  However she loves history and science…and she’s very creative….

Teacher:  Emily will receive William and Mary and we’ll accelerate in math.  You know we have this new initiative, The Seven Keys….

Parent:  But William and Mary doesn’t start until until after January, right?

Teacher:  Yes, we do William and Mary units in the spring.

Parent:  And the kids identified as GT do this?

Teacher:  Well, all students can benefit from William and Mary and will rotate through, starting in spring of third grade.

Parent:  (Sensing annoyance, goes in new direction) That’s another thing I’ve always wondered.  Is there a reason our school doesn’t offer Junior Great Books in K through 2?  I know from a friend that at some other schools they do.  In some cases parents do it as volunteers.  I know there are some parents here who might be willing–I know I would….

Teacher: (Coolly) You’ll have to take that up with the principal.  I am sure there are reasons why we haven’t done it.  Though with so many students it wouldn’t be fair for only some to receive it.  We start William and Mary and Junior Great Books in third grade and there will be lots of opportunities for Emily to receive rigorous instruction.  My, look at the clock!  I do need to go now.  But thank you so much for stopping by Ms. Jones and if you ever have any questions please do feel free to ask.

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What Does It Take? Leadership.

Posted in School, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »

In a recent post I told you how some future magnet parents at Eastern Middle School were rallying votes for Eastern Middle school’s field in the Kellogg’s Plant-a-Seed contest.

Well, I’m sad to report that despite a Herculean effort, Eastern didn’t win.  The school finished 9th.

Here’s an excerpt from the e-mail that was circulated by parent cheerleader-in-chief, Ben Yeatts-Lonske:

Anyway, what a great finish. To think we only had 161 votes on May 11! The noon finish caught many fields off-guard, but not Eastern – we cast >1000 votes Sunday morning, resulting in are move from 11th to 9th. For those who are interested, Campbell University ended-up in 6th position, and Triumphant Life in 13th. The field from western Maryland ended 29th – hopefully they will make it.

Sorry for all the emails. I was afraid once we passed 30 that we would lose momentum and fall back and them everyone would be disappointed. It happened
to some fields – Rock Field from TX was 8th going into Memorial Day but ended 30th. Interesting fact: although I’m grateful to the Gazette and Post for printing about us, I don’t figure their articles got us more than 500 votes total, out of 23,000!

The costs for this “campaign” was $100 for the school banners and for clicks from the Google Ad (you *did* spot the Google Ad, right?). If anyone would like to help defray these costs, please email me.

Regardless of if we win or not, we should feel great about how it turned out. Everyone in any of these groups helped make it happen:

- Eastern Parents
- Eastern Students
- Eastern Staff
- Eastern Teachers
- Eastern Alumni
- Everyone who posted to neighborhood, school, and county listservs
- Everyone who posted one of the 352 comments on the Kelloggs site
- People from the neighborhoods around Eastern Middle School
- Humanities Families who help spread the word around the County
- People who sent out voting reminders
- Relatives who voted from around the US
- Creators of Eastern Field’s three Facebook groups
- Takoma Soccer and its members
- People who helped with press contacts
- Coaches and athletes who use the field, for their invaluable commentary
- People with no stake in Eastern MS who voted for us anyway
- All the devoted voters who stuck with it to give us such a stable
voting base!

He goes on to list many, many others by name who tapped school and neighborhood listservs far a wide, reached out to alumni via Facebook, mobilized local media, connected with the community users of the field.  To get a sense of the enthusiasm of the organizers, check out the blog they started.  (Another example, DangerouslyIrrelevant!)

Which has left some wondering, what makes the difference between an average school  community and a vibrant one?  What would it take to keep this level of energy and sense of investment in the school going? I’ll expand it to ask, what would it take in any school?

I’ll tell you (and again, I’m speaking in general, not this school in particular).  Leadership.  Charismatic leadership.  Not smarmy, blow-dried, buzzword/educationalese-laden, headquarters-kissing, workshop attending, mission writing, office-bunkered “leadership.”  But leadership.  Real.  Leadership.  And investment.  I want a principal who is invested in his or her school.  Who lives, eats and breathes that school.  Who is walking the halls.  Who knows the kids and is willing to put them first, to be creative, to go outside the box in the interest of a child.  Who listens.  Who welcomes parents and is transparent.  Who isn’t going to tell you five ways till Sunday why it can’t be done.

That, in my humble opinion, is what it takes.

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“What’s Going on There? ;)”

Posted in School, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 1, 2009 | 1 Comment »

“…also from Montgomery County.  What’s Going on There? ;) “

That’s the cheeky comment posted on the blog “DangerouslyIrrelevant” last week.  Edublogger Scott McLeod had put up a Help Wanted post, looking for more examples of parents who are regularly blogging about their local schools.  Among the examples he gave was Montgomery County’s Parents’ Coalition.  Russ Goerand (who I’ve connected with through Twitter) added The “More” Child to the list (thanks Russ!).

So what IS going on here?   Parents are finding their voices.

The weekend brings news, care of the Parents Coalition blog, that the activist beast of Takoma Park is stirring.  For several months school listservs have been reporting on the progress of MCPS proposals to redraw the school boundaries in Takoma Park and the southernmost part of Silver Spring, potentially directly affecting current school assignments for children at four down county elementary schools and two middle schools.  MCPS has put forward several options that it presented to the Boundary Study Advisory Committee.  The community in turn hasn’t really liked any of them and has come up with some ideas of its own, such as creating a choice option for students who want to attend the MYIB program at under-enrolled Silver Spring International Middle School.

Now Yahoo Group listservs are fine, but a) you need to create a yahoo account, b) they are usually for members only and b) they’re moderated.  (Folks in the Parents Coalition have told war stories about PTA controlled list servs that would make your toes curl.)  It’s the old “if a tree falls in a forest…” issue.  If there’s important information posted to a listserv or an interesting discussion but no one knows, what’s the point? As for how effective or representative MCPS advisory committees are…sigh.

Well the point now is that parents are taking it all public, on blogs, YouTube, ScribD and other Web 2.0 tools.  It’s what some parents in Takoma Park are doing.  They’ve started a blog.  And there’s a YouTube video of one of the boundary study meetings (ending with one very uncomfortable MCPS official). Their aim is to make the process more inclusive and more transparent by putting everything in full public view.  Is that a bad thing?

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“School Answers to Math Questions”

Posted in School, tagged , , , , , , , on May 28, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Boy is this math stuff hot!  I don’t think I’ve ever had so many comments on a post in such a short time period…and that last  post wasn’t even all about math.

As a result of all the interest I’ve been doing some poking around the Internets this evening and have turned up this gem for all you MCPS math mavens.  It’s a document titled “School Answers Math Questions” (October 2008) and it comes from an MCPS elementary school principal, obviously in response to parent concerns.  It’s done in a question and answer format.  Like this:

Are students skipping whole grade levels in math?
No, students were taught both on-grade level and above-grade level math contents by their previous math teachers. Students who receive 72% proficiency in the above grade level materials and/or with staff recommendations on case by case basis are placed in accelerated classes.

Why is there no option for on-grade level math?
On grade level material is covered in the blended (combination) curriculum. There are not enough students at this time to create a full class of on-grade level students. [Note:  I love it!  We're all so smart here that no one is on-grade level!]

How and when will you reorganize the curriculums so that the concepts are not presented out of order?
Wayside staff is not responsible for writing the math curriculum. The blended math curriculum aligns concepts so that students can review previously taught math materials and be taught on grade level and above grade level content.

Oh, and then there’s this last question.  I don’t have any skin in this game, but I know some readers do.

Why do we not have textbooks?
We are a school that uses Everyday Math as a resource and there are no student textbooks in this series. Teachers use other resources to support their math curriculum. There are only student reference books. The upper grades (Math A and Math B) do have textbooks.

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