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.
September 28, 2012
September 20, 2012
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
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
September 18, 2012
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
September 15, 2012
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.
September 12, 2012
September 07, 2012
Large Class Sizes
I sent some of your comments to Mr. Ingano regarding the fire safety codes and the large class sizes in the Middle School. Here is his response:
"I believe the capacity is about 35 students; there is no class that I know of that would be in danger of going over the fire specs.
The higher class sizes are due to budget cuts--this year we have five less teachers on staff than we did last year--that means more children per class.
That's been my primary concern all along--I know we have to cut the budget but as we do, class size increases and we want to keep them on the low side."
That's been my primary concern all along--I know we have to cut the budget but as we do, class size increases and we want to keep them on the low side."
September 06, 2012
Creating Meaningful Change
This is just a quick post to respond to some of the recent comments I've seen.
I want you all to know that I welcome all comments (as long as there is no name calling or stuff like that). The positive and negative comments are both welcome. And positive and negative elements do exist in the schools.
The purpose of my last post (Let's Hear The Good Stuff Too) was to make sure that all comments were heard. I do believe that there are issues that need to be addressed and talked about. But it was getting a little unbalanced so I decided to invite the positive comments too.
But again, I don't want just one kind of posting here. All postings are welcomed.
Also, I keep seeing the question "does the administration read this blog?". My answer is I don't know. My suspicion is that they do (at least some of them). And I send some of your comments to Mr. Ingano when I think it's warranted.
My hope is that over time, they'll understand that this is a good place to find out about concerns, and respond in some way. Maybe not by posting, but by taking action on different things. Time will tell.
In the meantime, I think we just keep asking, and pointing things out. And letting everyone know about the good things too. If this blog starts being viewed as the place to go, then maybe the administration will start taking notice.
One step at a time. No meaningful change is ever fast. We have to keep at it.
I want you all to know that I welcome all comments (as long as there is no name calling or stuff like that). The positive and negative comments are both welcome. And positive and negative elements do exist in the schools.
The purpose of my last post (Let's Hear The Good Stuff Too) was to make sure that all comments were heard. I do believe that there are issues that need to be addressed and talked about. But it was getting a little unbalanced so I decided to invite the positive comments too.
But again, I don't want just one kind of posting here. All postings are welcomed.
Also, I keep seeing the question "does the administration read this blog?". My answer is I don't know. My suspicion is that they do (at least some of them). And I send some of your comments to Mr. Ingano when I think it's warranted.
My hope is that over time, they'll understand that this is a good place to find out about concerns, and respond in some way. Maybe not by posting, but by taking action on different things. Time will tell.
In the meantime, I think we just keep asking, and pointing things out. And letting everyone know about the good things too. If this blog starts being viewed as the place to go, then maybe the administration will start taking notice.
One step at a time. No meaningful change is ever fast. We have to keep at it.
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