I attended a hastily called parents meeting at my daughter’s school last night. Anna is in a program geared towards those with high academic abilities / high achievement desires. Now that we’re hitting the pre-teen and teenage years, it was important to find a classroom setting that would provide challenges academically as well as the acceptance of being a “keener”. Anna has been in this program for 7th grade and loves it. She is more engaged than ever before and her peers are equally challenged and engaged in the classroom. Sounds great, right? Well last night, to my dismay, I learn that the school has chosen to dismantle this highly successful program.
This program is called “The M Class” and is modeled on a Montessori-like approach to teaching. The program has been at this school for 7 or 8 years now and is implemented in grades 7 to 9. The successes are well documented and these kids who are often left to fend for themselves, have a place to belong and grow and learn. By the time they reach grade 10, they are ready for the high school experience with all of the social aspects that go along with growing up and getting ready for life beyond school. I had hoped to find a little history on the M Class and went on a quick search of the school website and found that there is no mention whatsoever of this program. I guess if I had paid more attention to what the school touted I would have realized that this program is not considered of value to the administration. The shame of it is that the kids love the program and the parents are involved and fully supportive. How rare in these times to find such a combination and yet the school has chosen to ignore this and cancel the program. There is no plan for transition, no attempt at grandfathering, nothing — just a this is how we’re doing it and you’re stuck with it.
There were many parents at the meeting last night voicing the same concerns as I. For every question asked of the principal and vice principals (of which there are many!), there were many artful dodges. At no point was any question answered directly or fully. Direct questions such as “when was this decision made?” were dodged with no clear answer given. There was lip service given to the many conversations, arguments, and meetings had before the decision was made but as I pointed out, they didn’t even bother to consult any of the students or parents who would be directly affected by this decision. As far as I’m concerned this was an arbitrary decision made without concern for the student well-being or long term growth.
It was interesting to watch the principal in action. He was disinterested at best and downright bored at worst. He threw out a few teaching buzzwords now and then as if to pacify this group of parents yet all it did was make matters worse. By the way, Mr. Lane, should you be reading this post, the term is “Instructional Intelligence” and yes many of us in the room do know who Barrie Bennett is and his current theories on instruction.
I was one of the parents who stormed out from the meeting after 90 minutes of disgruntled conversation between administration and parents. The meeting was going nowhere. It is very clear that this principal and his administration cares not for input from outside their circle. It was clear that they have made a decision with no real plan. I asked if there would be feedback mechanisms in place for the parents — dodge. I asked if they would reconsider this decision in the coming year should it prove a failure — dodge. I asked what their plan was besides just shutting down this program — dodge. The “plan” is to implement what they called something similar to the M Class but when it was described, it was very clear that this plan was just an illusion. They are taking apart the M Class, scattering these students and asking them to fend for themselves. Nice thing to do when a child is only 12 or 13 and entering some tough growing years. Am I bitter? You better believe it! I’m still fuming from last night. To add fuel to the fire, I found the school administration to be arrogant and condescending.
Note to teachers and administrators — should you honestly want parental input, you might want to actually listen to us. We are not here to simply do fundraising for you and just follow along placidly. You want the parent, you have to take it all and interact with us. And that is part of teaching as well — if you can’t relate to the parents, how can you expect us to have faith in your ability to relate to our children?
