by Greg Nadeau in Schools and Youth
Posted on June 2, 2010 at 9:09 am
Last Modified on June 11, 2010 at 9:48 am
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All Spring debate has raged both within and outside of the A.D. Healey School about how to resolve the severe income gap between the two K-6 programs in the school, Choice (38% low income) and Neighborhood (90% low income). Last night the school committee heard the Superintendent’s long-awaiting recommendation on the future structure of the school and people were invited to speak. Over 60 parents, teachers, and community members spoke. My comments are below.
I am here first and foremost for my kids. Kerri and I choose to move from the Marblehead and Groton suburbs we grew up in to Somerville because we wanted them to grow up in an environment as richly diverse as the world they will live in. We believe that Somerville is the best place in Massachusetts to raise kids and we intend to do everything we can to make this belief come true.
But diversity is hard. Kids and adults naturally self-select to build community with people who are like them. Sometimes, however, whether it is with a relative or with a neighbor or with a college roommate who you would never otherwise connect with, one point of connection can break through all the other dis-similarities to provide a window and connection into new ideas, languages, and ways of the thinking about the world. I like this. I want this for my kids.
While all three options being considered for the Healey could work, if you believe that racial and economic balance should not be made worse, the two options which separate the programs become less optimal. Balancing would require a more controlled student assignment plan, with legal ramifications, which would reduce flexibility and innovativeness in the Healey. There is no need to separate the programs. Our school is well balanced as it is. Now we need it to become excellent.
Not all kids are the same. Each is unique, and varied in different subjects. All parents in the school want differentiated instruction, project-based authentic learning, high academic standards, and an active parent community. Individual kids need individual attention, not individual programs or classes. Kids need not be tracked by class to receive instruction in small groups and extra help or challenges. This is what Healey teachers are already doing. We need to support them in doing this more.
When Mike Sabin was named principal of the Healey, I thought our school could be one of the best urban elementary schools in America. I still believe that.
I see a school that taps our natural diversity as a strength to drive grants and university partnerships and cultural events that could make us the envy of the Commonwealth.
I see a community of classrooms committed to innovation and individualized instruction with a partnership of teachers and parents working together to spread our successes and willing to do the hard work to improve the classrooms not yet meeting out standards.
I see a partnership with Tufts with student teachers, Literacy Corp, a Community of Practice, and other meaningful program components which will ensure that every child in the school gets all the time and resources they need to read by the end of second grade.
I see a LEGO robotics program during the day and after school that connects the innate engineers in every kid to build things for fun and to solve problems. I see the Healey leading a new citywide elementary school league of athletics, LEGO, model UN, math team and other good natured competition that provide opportunities for kids to compete and show what they are great at.
I see a school that refuses to let any kid fail. The best schools I know have a mission like “we rise and fall together.” They are focused like a laser beam on student success. No kid is allowed to fail. No kids success is considered enough. They bring the team work and competitive spirit of the Celtics this year and the Red Sox of 2004 to create incredibly breakthroughs for kids. ALL KIDS.
I came here for my kids, but now I am a member of this school and I am committed to ALL the kids here. I will not stop until I have done everything in my power to ensure that ALL kids here are successful. I do this for all the kids, but first and foremost, I do it for my kids.
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What inspiring goals and commitment!
An early Choice parent (ca 1983-1992.)
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I’m glad to read an argument for merging the two programs at Healey. Choice was (Kathye, correct me if I’m wrong) originally developed to promote certain academic programs not currently in use in Somerville (TERC math, for instance). It became an entity unto itself drawing the children of parents well-versed in progressive teaching techniques (the learned, well-educated parents). The neighborhood (project/immigrant kids) were not being sent to join that program because it just made them scratch their heads. Choice became an enclave of the more well-off children of better-educated Somerville parents. People began associating them with attitude. Somerville adopted some of their ideas in its regular program. Now, Choice doesn’t look so much different in curriculum from other Somerville schools, but seems elitist. I’ve spoken with several former teachers who felt that it was very uncomfortable at the Healey when Choice kids got more and fancier field trips than the regular Healey kids.
I think it’s good for the programs to merge and learn from one another. They may want to continue having kids stay with one teacher for two years (looping the grades). That’s something different that Healey could offer. Options are good. There was a letter to Somerville-4-Schools yahoo group that bemoaned the demise of Choice, and I do sympathize. If parents and teachers determine to make the new configuration work even better, though, it could.
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Greg:
You have some ideas about making the whole school work the same as Choice. Could you elucidate the method you intend to use to garner the kind of classroom involvement, of parents, that has always been a requirement for Choice to work the way it does?
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I believe that the principles of democratic schooling is much more than an angry mob dominated by the most verbose, it is a way that people come together with mutual respect and empathy.
I believe that parent participation in the classroom is generally, but not always good. There are plenty of examples in our school of parents disrespecting teachers and creating unnecessary distractions.
I hope that the new, integrated Healey will exemplify the positive principles of democratic education espoused by Lawrence Kohldberg, Ted Sizer, and Amy Putnam. I expect that parent participation in the classroom will continue to be welcome and that parents will be encouraged to get even more involved with the after school programs.
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Greg:
I can tell you have some issues with Choice, or at least that is where I think the “angry mob” comment comes from.
Still- what are the concrete steps you would take to engage with parents after the demise of the monthly Choice Council meeting which involved all Choice parent , Choice Teachers and the administration. Positive expectations are good, but there also needs to be concrete action.
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Over the years, several families in my neighborhood moved out of the city because of the schools. As long as this exodus continues, I will continue to give the school system an “F,” high-flown rhetoric notwithstanding.
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I agree, Jonathan. I did not care about the schools until I had them. Now, I have an almost 3 year old who I will be sending to St. Catherine’s (as long as we stay in Somerville) because the school system cannot get itself together. The school I live closest to has the worst scores for the MCAS tests. The excuses have to stop already.
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A lot of my friends have left, and a lot have stayed. Of those who have left, I’ve heard mixed things about their new schools. Of those who have stayed, I can think of 4 off the top of my head who have gone to Ivy league colleges after Somerville High. Somerville does a lot on half the budget of the ritzy communities my friends have moved to. And my kids get to experience real world yet stay wholesome (at least so far). The only thing they may not get is any illusions about how very special they are. Still, Somerville High has a lot of heart. The community should be more supportive.
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Linda, Somerville has not demonstrated to me why I should have my kids in the public school system. The budget is a mess, they cater to certain schools and not the entire district, I cannot get answers to my questions regarding where my son would go, etc. I picked up the phone, called St. Catherine’s and got my questions answered with no problem. There is a mass exodus once kids are either in first grade or as soon as they get to middle school. I know many families who have left Somerville and do not regret it.
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My kids are all grown and threw college, but I can tell you that I would never put them in these somerville schools now. None of the kids speak english – way too many illegals — and our property tax $$$$ all go to supporting them instead of educating kids.
Somerville will be a no-kids city — really already is. It will also be a “2 class” city. The wacky, trustfund progressives in Ward 6/7 and the rest of Somerville (illegals) serving them under the table. I’m all set with that.
I am getting out of here and headed to AZ soon. They got it right down there. It will be nice to be around people who support the rule of law.
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threw = through. Had a few scotches this afternoon.
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Wow- still so much hostility toward the schools- especially from people who have not experienced them. Like most people who move to Somerville, we were very concerned with the Somerville public schools when our kids turned school age. We considered private schools and even moving but BEFORE we moved we put our daughter in public school and she has thrived. Her elementary teachers were wonderful actually pushing her toward high achievement and giving her individual attention. In middle school and High School she played sports and participated in numerous clubs — to a much greater degree than many of my friends who have kids in suburban schools. Her high school teachers have been fantastic. Her MCAS scores , AP scores and SATS have been well above average. And she is a good kid, a leader who is concerned about others, her city of Somerville and the global community. My daughter graduated from SHS this week and she is going to Wellesley College. Kudos to the Somerville Public Schools!
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Jane: my negative comments are because I got NO response from anyone – my school committee member, the school department, etc. I took it upon myself to speak with parents and made the decision to send my child to St. Catherine’s after seeing the school. I also took into account the MCAS scores and seeing parents at the school committee meetings and how most seemed to side with one particular elementary school.
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Hi Janine,
I’m a parent with kids in the Somerville public schools. All together, they’ve attended 4 schools, from Capuano to the high school, and overall we’ve been happy with our kids’ experience, and now are thrilled with the high school.
To explain some of the points you raise:
1. “I cannot get answers to my questions regarding where my son would go”: Most likely this is because in Somerville we have school choice. That means YOU as the parent choose your top 3 school choices when you register your son for kindergarten. I’ve heard that the majority of families registering on time get their #1 choice.
2. “The budget is a mess”: Actually Somerville’s school budget is in better shape than that of many other school districts. Other towns are charging fees for afterschool sports and clubs, fees for supplies and materials like chemistry lab equipment, etc., and are laying off massive numbers of teachers. Somerville has made cuts strategically, used federal stimulus money and grants wisely, and isn’t laying off classroom teachers this year.
3. “they cater to certain schools and not the entire district”: I’m not sure what you mean by this? We’ve been at 4 schools and haven’t seen a huge disparity between the attention they get.
4. “The school I live closest to has the worst scores for the MCAS tests.”: You can choose to send your son to any school in the city, so if MCAS is what’s important to you, look at the schools with the best scores.
5. “I also took into account … seeing parents at the school committee meetings and how most seemed to side with one particular elementary school.”: Parents tend to go to School Comm meetings only when there are issues affecting their kids’ particular school, and then they’ll talk about that issue rather than about the entire district. If things are going well and cuts to their school aren’t looming, parents tend not to go to these meetings.
Maybe you’ll be happy staying at St. Catherine’s, and that’s fine. But if you ever want to consider moving into the free public school system, I hope you’ll visit the schools while classes are in session, and talk to staff and parents at various schools.
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Paula:
Thank you for your information. Regarding your points:
#1. My basic questions on when my child should enroll were not answered. Was it age 4, 5 or 6? Also, I was asked to be put on the mailing list for the school committee member for my ward and I have yet to receive an email regarding meetings for ward 3. I have to find out info from reading this blog from my school committee member.
#2. Federal stimulus money is not going to be there forever. The city may not be laying off teachers this year, but they might next year. The economy is getting better – slowly. I feel there should be fees for sporting events. These are not academic in nature and are extra curricular.
#3. The meetings I have attended there have only been parents from Brown and Healey. When the budget meeting happened last year, these parents adamantly refused to have anything regarding those schools cut. Is that fair? The school that is nearest to me on Washington Street has the worst MCAS scores. The school took tens of millions to build and yet it has the worst test scores. I was also told by someone at a school committee meeting that this school primarily deals with students with ESL or developmental or behavioral problems. If this is the case, why would I send my child there?
I feel my child will do well at St. Catherine’s -whether it is “free” public school or not. I am glad your children did well. But unfortunately, for every parent like you, I know just as many who left either before 1st grade or right after 5th grade.
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First, regarding options available, most parents I know go to and through the Parent Information Center (http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us/education/dept/dept.php?sectionid=1291). That’s why they call it that. School Committee members know a lot, but not always about each school.
Second, there are several different options in enrolling your child, and it’s not a simple one number answer. The Capuano is early (and Head Start – which even has a 10% over income eligibility – is even earlier). It depends on your child and your – and your child’s – expectations.
Third, every school in the state has its own School Council, and that council has to – by law – approve its school improvement plan, which includes a discretionary budget. In some schools this is less than a rubber stamp. In the High School (and now cited by the district as a model) it ain’t no rubber stamp. Discussions are active, engaged, and involve parents, students, teachers, and others – like me – who know stuff they think might be useful. Some principals fluff it off, but some take it quite seriously, and it sure isn’t hard to join it, particularly if you represent the PTA or some established parent group.
Fourth, the school budgets are remarkably transparent (a mess? look at them online!). They’re not as large as Cambridge per kid, but they are plenty to do a remarkably broad range of education. You may THINK that sports are extra-curricular, incidentally, but there is a load of very serious research that documents how much students learn – from each other and from teachers and even…astoundingly…from parents – through sports, theater, and other “extra curricular” activities.
Fifth, MCAS scores are an odd metric to measure any school, in spite of Obama and Secretary Duncan’s romance with standards and testing. While they are useful in comparing schools across time, and in assessing unique features (you can find, for example, the real ratio of bilingual or SPED, etc. online, or you can wait until Xumi has a little more scotch and the trust him for all I care), they do not reflect individual or even classroom achievement very well. That’s because they are tuned to a system of standardized testing originally invented for the soldiers in World War I, and, frankly, we’ve made some progress in assessing skills since then. If you really want to rely on MCAS, you ought to look at the literature on national testing (recently enriched at the DOE site http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment/index.html). The foremost researcher at Stanford, Linda Darling-Hammond, for example, argued strongly that schools should use portfolios – ideally computerized, the way they are beginning to do it in middle and high school in…of all places…Somerville – to give students benchmarks on achievement, and to document how well students do a number of things more critical to college and work. For example, Tufts and a few other highly selective places, have begun to look for skills like collaboration, leadership, creativity, and – what one calls “wisdom” – or “anticipating consequences on behalf of other people.” That’s really cool, and makes MCAS – with questions like how long was the 7 years war – worse than dreary!
So, if you want your kid to think, to learn from other people, and to succeed in diverse environments, you might choose St. Catherine’s, but I wouldn’t, and I’m in the business.
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Joe:
One reason we picked St. Catherine’s is that they will take my son in September when he is 3, and the public schools would not. He is already in day care part time and I want him to continue with school and group activities but at a cheaper price. The class he will be in is as diverse as I have ever seen in Catholic school. I went to catholic school in PA till high school and everyone was white, well off families except us-I was a child of divorce.
I have looked at the website and had questions. I called, left many messages for call backs and nothing. I am not going to call day after day to only leave my message. I have spoken with parents who like and do no like the school system. I don’t feel comfortable with my sons attending the school on Washington. That’s our choice.
Thanks for your insight. This was a very cordial “conversation between us.
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So, who voted against this?
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Janine
The vote is on the website, as are notes on the wording. Most of the discussion and differences revolved around some of the wording, not, I gather, the intent. The key vote was the first:
Motion One made by Mr. Sweeting and seconded by Ms. Rafal:
I move that the School Committee charge the Healey School Council with
drafting plans for a unified K-8 Healey School based upon the educational
philosophy and strong commitment to parent/guardian involvement outlined in
the Choice Ad-hoc Document. The School Council should also include other
best practices currently used at the Healey or other schools, while
retaining its strong emphasis on literacy intervention and the continued
revitalization of the Middle Grade Program.
The new school will feature high expectations and a challenging academic
environment for all students and will be officially established in September
2011. The new Healey School should yield increased enrollment and maximum
retention of students, expanded family participation in governance resulting
in higher parent satisfaction and higher MCAS and/or other indicators of
student achievement.
The Healey School Council should develop a structured process for its
deliberations that is transparent, inclusive, and participatory. The School
Committee will provide funds for a consultant to work with the Principal and
the School Council beginning in September 2010.
The proposal should take as its starting point the Choice Ad hoc document
and its implementation must be in accordance with all collectively bargained
agreements and collective bargaining principles; any elements of the plan
that would result in a change of working conditions for employees are
subject to negotiation.
The School Committee recommends that the Healey School Council expand its
membership in September 2010 to become even more broadly representative and
to include more parents/guardians, teachers, staff, and community members in
the design process for the new school.
The Healey School Council should work closely with existing leadership,
including, but not limited to, for example, the PTA, the Instructional
Leadership Team, the Choice Council, the Middle Grades Design Team, the
After School Planning Team, Student Government and a representative of the
Specialist Teachers.
The School Committee expects the Healey School Council to provide regular
updates to District education leaders for presentation to the Educational
Programs and Instruction Subcommittee, beginning in October 2010.
The School Committee requests a written progress report outlining key parts
of a proposed school design plan by January 15, 2011. The full proposal will
be reviewed by District education leaders and presented to the School
Committee for its approval no later than March 1, 2011.
Motion One was passed on a roll call vote of YES – 5 – Rafal, Bockelman,
Curtatone, Sweeting, and Niedergang, NO – 3 – Bastardi, Cardoso and Rossetti
and ABSENT – 1- Connolly
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