The Rochester City School District will hold public hearings concerning 13 schools identified by the State Education Department as struggling or persistently struggling.
The schools are among more than 140 statewide that require urgent attention because they are not meeting performance standards. They fall under a new state law that places them in receivership, first to the superintendent, who has no more than two years to make significant progress toward improvement.
Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas is required to develop a plan for each school, and community engagement is a required component of each plan.
All of the public hearings will be held at the district’s central office, 131 West Broad Street. The following is the schedule for this week’s hearings: Monday, August 3, School 34, at 5:30 p.m.; Tuesday, August 4, School 44, at 7:15 p.m.; Wednesday, August 5, Schools 3 and 45, at 5:30 p.m.; Thursday, August 6, Schools 41 and 8, at 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, August 8, School 17 at 9 a.m. and School 9 at 10:45 a.m. BY TIM LOUIS MACALUSO
Fred Rainaldi, developer of the Culver Road armory, will update the community on plans for the third and final phase of the armory project.
The meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 4, in the gallery space next to Fleet Feet, building 2, at the armory. BY CHRISTINE CARRIE FIEN
This article appears in Jul 29 – Aug 4, 2015.
I have difficulty understanding the “struggling school” concept. How does a school struggle? It is open to the public, it is fully staffed by a dedicated teaching staff, it has a school nurse, it provides lunch, it has heat and air conditioning, it provides for transportation and it costs approximately $20,000. 00 per student.
Could it be the curriculum? Could it be the boring academics? Do we need to think outside the box to make some changes? Do we need some ingenuity to address to needs? The delivery? The relevancy of their education? It’s unanimous! Yes!
Once again the district shows just how inefficient and impersonal it is without knowing it. Why wouldn’t these be held at the individual school locations? You are guaranteed almost no parent engagement by holding these at central office. Additionally, if you are going to hold every one at central office, then why have so many? There is no doubt the presentation and format for each will be very similar. You could have fewer total days but maybe present twice on that day so parents had another option if one time did not work. It makes no sense in terms of productivity to do these at central office. All that does is allow the district to tell the state we had the presentation even if zero parents attend.
Dutch, it’s basically the same curriculum that’s offered in the suburbs. If you are suggesting that urban students be taught a different curriculum based on their culture, then how will ALL students (urban & suburban) be on the same playing field in this country after they get out of school?
I can see an urban curriculum that offers a skill set knowldge for careers in carpentry, electicity, plumbing, auto repair or any service industry that requires practical skills but the problem is that many activist groups will push back and say that urban students should be trained for college as in the suburbs and that careers in the service industry are perceived as being racist.
It’s a matter of perception; for years the service industry has been poo-pooed as “beneath” the professions of doctors, lawyers, and such that require advanced degrees. Yet, there is a demand for workers in this skilled service industry.
It’s time to get being politically correct out of education and give all students an opportunity to contribute productively to this country. Every career has merit and that is what should be addressed and fostered in our educational system.
So we hire a superintendent and elect a school board and their job is to find someone else who is competent to run our schools?
If a school board and a superintendent find themselves in this situation, the first thing they should do is resign.
Have to clarify; I am not suggesting any changes to the curriculum in the urban effort. I realize that there are NYS regulations that have to be met in the urban setting as well as the suburban. The level playing field that I am referring to is the fact that family support, income, childhood upbringing, which would include travel and experiences that are associated with travel, out of state and out of country, those are not as prevalent in the urban setting. While I realize that there is equal opportunity, there is a considerable difference in how that opportunity is “exercised”.
That gap could/should be filled (although the same curriculum) with an enhancement. It is this enhancement that will help level this experience or life learning experience gap. The enhancement is as follows;
Build a THEARENA connected to the high school. This is a combination of the theater and an arena, creating a unique venue for the urban high school student, which will provide real live demonstrations of professions and careers. A career discovery center f you will. This is a venue that injects relevancy to the traditional academic/education setting utilizing all 5 senses. If you, at the Freshman level, explain to the incoming student that they will be reading a stack of books three foot tall and that they will be tested on that reading effort,…. and then tell them you must pass that in order to get your diploma, just how much excitement do you think that academic approach will create? You can look at the graduation rate, less than 60%! Ask the student (the educational customer) on how exciting they feel about attending high school.
We need to create a “wow, this is cool” educational atmosphere. They will now actually see and feel the profession and realize that the math and science they are learning have a purpose. Imagine a mobile MRI driven into this thearena and a technologist explaining what it does, an engineer explaining how it does and a doctor explaining what it shows and the mechanic explaining what can go wrong and how to fix it. Would I be glued to that presentation? Would I get why I had to crack the books? A THEARENA concept will provide that. In addition it will inject relevancy into their education, which will reduce absenteeism, increase the graduation rate and most important, give them a clear pathway (a visible pathway) to a profession and career. That is called “post high school success”.
If you monitor or follow up on the students that do graduate, what was their post high school success rate.?That is equally important because that is what provides the opportunity for a living wage, a self supporting wage. And that folks is what eliminates poverty and dependence on the government.
We need some ingenuity injected into the education effort. Extending the day aint going to cut it. Thank you!
(click on the little pic. in the upper left of this page and you will see a rendering of the thearena)