Education

Over 40 people showed up for the Town School Board Public Forum ‘Learning in the 21st Century’ to participate in discussion and contribute ideas.  When all was said and done, the list of improvements alone, if enacted, would make the Brattleboro Public Schools cooler than most, and probably more effective, which says something about the ideals of those involved.  But as was reflected in the discussion, this is an era of standardization and assessment, data and budgets.

Attendees included members of the Town School Board; Principals Paciulli and Reid, of Academy and Green Street Schools respectively; an assistant principal; Lyle Holiday and Ron Stahley of WSESU; a number of teachers, including high school teachers; some parents; and members of the public and press.

The Brattleboro Town School Board recently sent surveys to parents, staff, and students as part of their community outreach effort. Below are the questions that were asked of each group. I thought the surveys might be of interest to those who don’t have children attending any of these three schools, but are interested in education.

Recently, I submitted a list of questions to the Brattleboro Town School Board with regard to standardized testing, federal education programs, teachers’ concerns,  and a range of other topics.  I received a response from Town School Board Chair Margaret Atkinson today, with answers to most of them.  

Margaret Atkinson explained that she “worked with [WSESU Superintendent of Schools] Ron Stahley and District Curriculum Coordinator Lyle Holiday” in preparing the answers.

She stressed that the answers were not intended to represent the views of the Town School Board, who, she said, have not voted on it and have no declared position on most of these issues.  

As many in town grapple with the sense of cognitive dissonance that comes from hearing multiple conflicting views about our schools, it’s helpful to have concrete statements of position to evaluate.  The questions and answers below shed light on the administration’s view of the issues, and provide important background into how our school administrators see education today.

Here’s a link to a that challenges the benefits and virtues of testing.

“I happen to believe that efforts to raise test scores dramatically and in mass, such as is called for by NCLB, is a fool’s errand that can only end in failure or (more likely) fraud.” 

As a parent who has sent two kids through the system, and former educator myself, I submit this article as one who no longer has ‘skin in the game’. However, I believe all of us have a flesh and blood investment in this issue, because the corporate mindset and methods that now so heavily dominate education, inform almost every aspect of our lives.

Free Demo Spanish Class with Escuelita Spanish School. Wednesday, January 22nd 5:30-6:15 pm. Experience a new approach to language acquisition that is easy, fun, and truly effective. Winter schedule available online www.EscuelitaSpanishSchool.org.

Beginner class begins Jan 30th. Weekend classes Feb 1-2 (intermediate) and 8th-9th- Family class.

To register, please email elissa@escuelitaspanishschool.org or call 802-275-2694

The Brattleboro Town School Board, which governs the town’s three elementary schools, has announced the agenda for their first outreach session with the public on the topic of education.  This meeting, which is scheduled for January 22, 2014 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM at the Academy School, will focus on what people like about Brattleboro’s public schools.  Details from the flyer are below.

Topic:  Learning In the 21st Century – the first in a series of community conversations with the Brattleboro Town School Board

January 22, 2014
6:00 – 7:30 pm
Academy School

When I said last year that I was going to try to figure out what was going on in public education, I had no idea what a gigantic project that would turn out to be. Not only is it complex, it’s also political, making it that much harder to unravel the claims of groups both for and against. In short, despite hours of research, I still have questions. But our own Brattleboro Town School Board says it wants to do outreach on education, and I think we should take the opportunity to reach out to them so we’ll get our questions answered and our concerns allayed (or not). To get the ball rolling, I have a list of questions I’d like to see addressed by local education officials. Even if no public discussion ensues, at least we’ll know what’s going on.

Enrollment is now open for Marlboro Continuing Education courses that can be taken on a per-class basis. The trimester begins Friday, January 3rd. Register using the : http://gradschool.marlboro.edu/admissions/application/cep?d=CEP

Also, if you know someone you think would be right for a Marlboro graduate degree, this is a great time for them to contact admissions to find out more information. 

Open to all area youth: The Power of Discovery @ The Grammar School, Session II

Sign up deadlines coming soon.

Don’t miss out on these amazing afterschool opportunities for your children in grades K-8!

All area children welcome.

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BAMS Committee will meet at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, December 16 in BAMS Conference Room.

Kurn Hattin Homes for Children’s Music Director, Lisa Bianconi, got the thrill of a lifetime last week when she learned that she is one of only 10 finalists for the inaugural Grammy Music Educator award. Bianconi received the call from the Grammy Foundation while at work at on Friday, letting her know the good news and telling her to tune in to the televised Grammy Nomination Concert to watch the official announcement live on CBS Friday night. The 10 finalists, from 10 cities across eight states receive $1,000 and a matching honorarium for their schools. One winner will be flown to Los Angeles to attend the 56th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014.

Children come to Kurn Hattin Homes from all kinds of backgrounds and for all kinds of reasons. Recently a group of five 2012 graduates shared their moving stories of transformation. These candid interviews are now available for viewing on Kurn Hattin’s website. Each one is completely different, and some may surprise you.

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 25 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street (Warrants).

The BUHS #6 Budget Committee will meet at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 25 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.

The Town School Board discussed their public outreach efforts again on Tuesday night and found that even deciding on topics was more complicated than they’d expected.  A small group of citizens attended the meeting to participate in that discussion and what emerged was that the issues raised at the first meeting, held in October at the Brattleboro Co-op, needed to be clarified and expanded on before focus topics could be decided.  In short, the board might have to do more outreach before they can properly do outreach.

After the October meeting, the School Board assigned the outreach issue to a subcommittee consisting of David Schoales and Jill Stahl-Tyler who were tasked with determining an outreach process.  Schoales and Stahl-Tyler looked at issues raised at the first meeting, listed and categorized them, and brought them back to the board to decide on next steps.  After nearly an hour of  discussion, it was decided that the subcommittee would need to be expanded and topics decided.  Public meetings centered around the topics are expected to begin in January.

Brooks Memorial Library is one of fourteen Vermont libraries across the state that now is offering videoconferencing, thanks to a grant from Google. The Library will be offering monthly orientation sessions on the new equipment beginning on Wednesday, November 20, at 7 PM in the Library’s Meeting Room.

It will be taught by the library’s e Vermont computer intern, Justin Polnack. There is no registration necessary and the workshop is free and open to the public. The 90 minute session will demonstrate steps on setting up the equipment and using Google hangout. There is no charge to use the equipment, but people wanting to reserve the equipment must register for a Google+ account, attend a workshop, or schedule a one-on-one session with the trainer.

Kurn Hattin Homes for Children’s School Principal, Scott Tabachnick, recently wrote an op-ed piece for the local paper, the Brattleboro Reformer (published Friday, November 8), to share a few of the reasons why he feels thankful to be a part of the Kurn Hattin community. In the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we thought we’d share Scott’s letter with you!

Kurn Hattin Homes for Children: Getting it Right for Kids

by Scott Tabachnick

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The BAMS Committee will meet at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, November 4 in the Middle School Conference Room.

The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 6 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.

NOTICE OF MEETING

The BUHS #6 Board of Directors will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, November 4 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room.

The Brattleboro Town School Board has three budget meetings scheduled for Wednesday, October 30, 2013.

First meeting 10/30/13 – 8:30 a.m.

Wednesday, October 30th: 8:30 a.m. The Brattleboro Town School Board’s Energy Committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 30 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street. 

Escuelita Spanish School is offering a weekend Spanish Immersion Course November 9th-10th at Hilltop Montessori School in Brattleboro. These courses make learning Spanish feel effortless, fun, and truly effective. Many of us have had frustrating experiences learning a second language. The way we were taught in school might have taught us the rules of the language but, in most cases, we did not learn how to speak the language.

Escuelita’s approach is based on brain and language acquisition research and it gets students understanding and speaking the language quickly and with a lot of laughter and fun along the way. After our weekend immersion course last June, one of our students wrote:

Over 30 people crammed into a tiny conference room at the Brattleboro Food Co-op Tuesday night with another 25 or so out in the hall outside to participate in a School Board planning session for future “public outreach” meetings that the board plans to hold. The meeting began with an hour long open session during which people were allowed to speak for two minutes each.

A number of parents and teachers spoke with criticism of the schools including over-reliance on data and standardized tests, changes in teaching methods and management style, treatment of experienced teachers, and other issues.