CMS - Fact or Fiction

I received an interesting letter in the mail last week.  The letter talks about the Middle School and the problems that have been happening during the year.  I would love to follow up with the person who wrote it, but s/he didn't sign a name.

My e-mail is carr0629@hotmail.com  If you'd like to contact me. I can promise you that I would never use your name on this blog.  I've talked with lots of people because of this blog, and I never disclose who they are, unless I have their permission. 

 The entire reason I started this blog was because of the rumors I heard about the Middle School.  And after all the posts, e-mails, talking with people in town, and meeting with the Superintendent, I'm still not sure what to believe.  I've heard everything from "it's the worst school on earth" to "the teachers at CMS are the most caring human beings on the planet".  Honestly, I think the truth is probably somewhere in between.

I keep thinking back to when I was in school.  My hometown had problems with the school system too.  I went to an elementary school that ended up being K-7.  I don't remember thinking that I was getting an awful education, or being upset that we had limited space.  I just went to school, and eventually graduated, and went on to college.

So what I'm figuring out from everyone's feedback over the past year, is that we can't panic because our school system isn't perfect.  But we can't hide our heads either.  Again, I think the truth is somewhere in between.  I think we need to be as involved with our children's education as much as we can (and that level is different for everyone). 

I don't want to view the schools as an overwhelming problem. I don't know about you, but when I feel overwhelmed, I avoid the problem.  It's scary to tackle something that's bigger than you.

Instead, I'd rather view the schools as a work in progress.  In my eyes, that's a more manageable approach, and a lot less scary.

This blog is much better with your input.  So what do you think?  What are your views? What are your suggestions?

Feeling Good About Clinton Schools

Someone posted this in CMS, and I thought it was so positive, that I wanted to share it with you:

Hey everyone!

Did people see the great article in the newspaper about how CHS and CMS team together using science. CHS students work with middle school teachers and become science mentors to the students. Hooray great work!

Speaking about education did anyone know that CMS and CHS work together and have a tutoring program and HS students work with middle school. Also Mrs. Sargent and Mr. Rouleau work with 8th grade students who need help in math on Thursday nights.
Secondly, the middle school has had two rally's this year. One at the beginning of the year and one just before MCAS.

 HS students brought the First Robot over and got the students pumped up!
Lastly, CMS had a dance!! First in about 5-6 years. I heard almost 100 students went!
It seems that there are many things good in our schools.

Let's keep up the good work together: parents, teachers, students, and administration.

Workshops RE: School Finance in the Future

Just saw an article from Terrance Ingano on the Clinton Item and he mentions that there will be workshops on the school budget and school choice.

Here's a little snippet, but the entire article is at http://www.telegram.com/article/20120928/COULTER01/109289881/1189/coulter

"During the year, I hope to offer two public workshops concerning school finances. Sometime this fall, I will offer a workshop on school choice. Money coming in, money going out, what items are funded by choice, and our dependence on this fund will all be discussed. In the spring, I hope to offer a workshop on budget development — just what goes into a budget and the many considerations needed when preparing it."

What do you think?  Share your thoughts.

MCAS Update

NEW ARTICLE in Item

http://www.telegram.com/article/20120921/COULTER01/109219926/1189/COULTER


My daughters haven't taken the MCAS yet, so I have no direct experience with this process.

For those of you who have been through this, what are your experiences?

For those of you who haven't been through this, if you have any questions, maybe others on the blog can answer them.

And I'm sure many of you have seen this, but here are some links to the 2012 results.

http://boston.com/news/special/education/mcas/scores12/results/clinton.html

http://boston.com/news/special/education/mcas/scores12/results/clinton.html#school-by-school

Clinton High School

Here is an article about Clinton High School, that was in the Sunday Telegram

Sunday, September 16, 2012

A Kindle, gentler way to teach

By Donna Boynton TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

 

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120916/NEWS/109169686/1242/mobile02&TEMPLATE=MOBILE

 

Let me know your thoughts.

This Blog is Here to Stay

I respectfully disagree with the sentiment that this blog is the reason for the negative comments about the school.  The comments being made on this blog are the same comments I was hearing around town before this blog started.  And don’t forget the reason I started this blog was because of parents choosing to school choice their kids when they got to the middle school.  So clearly there were issues before I started this blog. 

I think the difference between then and now is that all of the comments are all in one place.  And the written word can seem harsher than the spoken word.  When you’re reading and you can’t hear the tone in someone’s voice it’s sometimes more difficult to figure out if the person is trying to be snippy, or nice; attacking or just giving honest criticism.  And to be fair, there are some comments that are definitely meant to be attacking, but not all of them.  And I think it’s extremely unfair to dismiss the legitimate concerns just because the post above it might be over the top.

What I try to do when I read the comments on this blog is find a theme.  A common thread throughout the postings.  And what I’ve found is that when I weed through all the criticisms, the name calling, and the questions, it seems to always come down to one thing: communication.

In my opinion, when you break it down into those terms it really doesn’t seem too much to ask. 

I’d also like to point out that we all have different perspectives based on our involvement in the schools.  There are some of you who are very involved and are at every event and volunteer their time, and see some members of administration every day.  And for you the communication piece may seem like a non-issue because you’re getting the “inside scoop” so to speak.  But there are also those of you who don’t have this experience for various reasons.  You are searching for information that you can’t find. And calling the school doesn’t always help (sometimes, but not always).  This becomes extremely frustrating.

I want you all to know that I still intend for this blog to be a place where everyone can read, and post, and make their own decisions about how they feel about the schools.  I know it has flaws.  I am also not happy when I see the “attack” posts.  But there are good posts on here too, and I’m not taking this away from the people who use it for what it’s intended for.  I’m not taking this blog down.

UPDATE: New Business Manager for CPS

Article about new business manager

New Article:

http://www.telegram.com/article/20120914/COULTER01/109149899


http://www.telegram.com/article/20120911/COULTER01/120919870/-1/rssitem&source=rss

http://www.telegram.com/article/20120912/NEWS/109129914/1101/local