Last night at Skyline's PTSO meeting, principal Sulura Jackson gave a pretty good summary of the events and AAPS follow-up to the first day of school bus fight. First, she characterized it as a fight that originated in the community, not in the school. Second, the school district does not at this point believe the fight to be a hate crime, although of course the police are doing their own investigation. The school district is following through with discipline for the students involved, as well as conflict resolution/mediation efforts that will go on throughout the year. And--finally! On Wednesday during "Skytime" (digression: everything at Skyline seems to have a "sky" pun in it--this refers to homeroom) the whole school will have a scripted/organized discussion. I believe that Ms. Jackson is right to keep the focus on ways to make the schools welcoming, and not focus on the incident itself. And, I'm relieved to hear, they are working with Peace Neighborhood Center as well.
So that's all well and good. I think they are on the right track. Yet I still have something to kvetch about: communication and transparency. Schools need to wake up and realize that they are service organizations, serving not just students but parents too. They will get a lot further if they communicate with transparency. I'm not asking for the moon--I should not have to go to a PTO meeting to find out basic information. That's what emails and letters are for! (And I didn't go to the meeting, actually, because I have found that you can't be in two places at once. I got this information from asking others.)
It may just be me, but: if I don't know what the schools are doing, then I am often not going to trust that they are doing the right thing. A paternalistic attitude that "we know what we are doing" doesn't get very far with me. I like to think for myself. I want openness and communication. At least as a place to start.
Information, news, and ideas about Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, and Michigan schools; thoughts about education; and occasionally other stuff too.
Ruth, volunteer to become a school/parent liason. I am sure you would do a fine job keeping everyone informed via emails and letters.
ReplyDeleteConcerns brought up by the parents of the FORSYTHE children, who were ALSO on the bus, were poo poo'd by Forsythe's principal. I was actually told that it was not any of my business.
ReplyDeleteNice.
And my kid goes to Skyline next year. I moved to Ann Arbor from Ypsilanti because of the superior school system????? Doubting the superior part.
Anon 1--Thank you for your confidence in me! Besides the fact that I currently have 3 kids in 3 different AAPS schools, so that wouldn't be realistic for me, I really think this is a systems issue. The Ann Arbor schools have a communications staff person (Liz Margolis), and I have seen them communicate very effectively when they want to. In this case, they are worried about protecting these kids (which is good) but in the process they are not making parents feel comfortable about what is going on (as Anon 2) notes--AND it is not because of a systems capacity issue.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, this kind of thing should not rely on parent volunteers because in 2-3-4-5-6 years the parents leave (when their kids leave the school) and often at that point lots of great projects get dropped.
Anon2--I can't speak to the superiority of Ann Arbor vs. Ypsilanti because I've never had a kid in the Ypsi schools, but I have found that for the most part it's the teachers that matter (and at Skyline, so far, they've been pretty good). As for Forsythe, I think you and the other parents need to keep up the PRESSURE.
I, too, am a parent of a Forsythe Middle School student who feels like the communication and transparency was completely missing. I called the Transportation Department with concerns about crowding on the same bus and never got a call back. The other victims of this crime are all the other kids on that bus who witnessed a violent incident on their first day of school. I have spoken to several parents who are now leaving work early to drive their kids because they don't feel safe on the bus. I guess the bus is less crowded now because people are afraid to use it! Shame on the schools for not addressing this part of the problem. Parents need to know what steps have been taken to make sure the bus is safe.
ReplyDeleteAccording to teachers at Skyline's Curriculum Night, the "scripted / organized discussion" during Skytime was actually a videocast on which the principal said 1) there was an incident, 2) it is being handled according to AAPS policy, and 3) we're putting it behind us. There was no discussion. Don't be so quick to criticize the Forsythe principal but give a pass to the Skyline principal on this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update about curriculum night. I am not giving a pass to anybody! There was some discussion at the PTSO meeting but as I say above, that is not enough.
ReplyDeletePATIENCE AND TOLERANCE :
ReplyDeleteThese are qualities that we need to practice and also teach to others. It is unfortunate to note that students are arriving at their School without a sense of Joy and Happiness. These are the best years of their entire lives. They are indeed blessed and are fortunate for spending their precious moments of life at Skyline.Students need to learn to behave with a sense of self-restraint.We show restraint in our behavior if we are patient and tolerant. While Skyline takes corrective action, we should all show patience and tolerance and should refrain from showing anger. Retaliation is not the solution.We have invested Time, Energy, and Money to educate our children. Attitudes and Behavior could be modified by proper Education.
Ruth, I am jealous that your kids are at Skyline. The promise of improvements at Pioneer via the new high school that we are all paying for have not materialized. It is as impersonal and factory like as ever. As for schools behaving like service organizations? Forget it. If you want to be treated like a customer, you have to pay for private school. In speaking to the Pioneer principal, it was clear he was irritated to have to speak to a parent about a concern. No sense of "service" whatsoevery
ReplyDeleteAnon--Only one child at Skyline--3 kids, 3 different schools. However, I have heard from many people that Pioneer still feels like a factory. It doesn't have to be that way. It shouldn't be that way. And I think it is completely unacceptable that people feel that they have to pay for private school to get what they need. First, we pay for public school in our taxes. And second--there are not that many private high school slots around, even if you have the money to pay for it. We have to keep pressing the "service" mantra, and it is really aggravating.
ReplyDeleteJust curious what you feel are effective methods of pressing for service. Contacting school board? Superintendent? What have you found to work?
ReplyDeleteUm, blogging?:) Only half-joking, I think I needed a soapbox. In fairness, I think I have only ever contacted the superintendent or school board members over specific issues, and not over general malaise. And also in fairness, some of the schools (probably due to their principals) are fairly responsive, and even when their hands are tied you still feel like they are giving you good service. In general, I think we don't typically say to the superintendent or school board members--we are not getting good service--which is probably what we need to do.
ReplyDelete