Monday, April 8, 2013
Thank you
We are thrilled for the Renaissance Design Team and the students and families of the Gomes School. We know how hard they have all worked to make the Renaissance School a reality and the passion they have for improving education here in New Bedford. We are disappointed that the School Committee could not come together to create a path for Esperanza School of Language and Culture. Despite this we hope that students and families in New Bedford will have the option of dual language immersion in the near future. A big thank you to Michael Shea and his team in Central Administration, members of the community, WBSM and The Standard Times, fellow colleagues, and our families and friends who all helped us to get this far.
Your View: Innovation schools bring change that can be managed
The Standard Times - April 8, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130408/OPINION/304080309/
Robert Massoud lives in New Bedford.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
I can't imagine anyone — including every single member of the innovation school planning teams — is opposed to providing the same services to every single student in the New Bedford school system. The problem is that change of that magnitude is rarely — if ever — successful.
A "yes" vote should come with a clear mandate that both schools produce clear, accurate and timely reports on their progress, and that the future of each school — and whether their models can influence all of New Bedford schools — is based on those results.
A "no" vote sends the opposite message; that we are not willing to try something that might make a difference because we can't have an impact on everyone at the same time. Is that the message we want to send to our children? That if they can't fix everything, don't even bother trying?
One final thought: It seems the catch-phrase of the opponents of the innovation schools is that accepting the proposals will establish a culture of "haves and have-nots." But isn't that exactly what we have today, and have had for way too long? A system where barely 50 percent of the students who attend our schools "have" a diploma, and the rest of the nearly 50 percent "have not."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130408/OPINION/304080309/
Robert Massoud lives in New Bedford.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
I can't imagine anyone — including every single member of the innovation school planning teams — is opposed to providing the same services to every single student in the New Bedford school system. The problem is that change of that magnitude is rarely — if ever — successful.
A "yes" vote should come with a clear mandate that both schools produce clear, accurate and timely reports on their progress, and that the future of each school — and whether their models can influence all of New Bedford schools — is based on those results.
A "no" vote sends the opposite message; that we are not willing to try something that might make a difference because we can't have an impact on everyone at the same time. Is that the message we want to send to our children? That if they can't fix everything, don't even bother trying?
One final thought: It seems the catch-phrase of the opponents of the innovation schools is that accepting the proposals will establish a culture of "haves and have-nots." But isn't that exactly what we have today, and have had for way too long? A system where barely 50 percent of the students who attend our schools "have" a diploma, and the rest of the nearly 50 percent "have not."
Fate of innovation school proposals to be decided tonight
The Standard Times - April 8, 2013
www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130408/NEWS/304080327/
By Natalie Sherman, Writer for The Standard Times
nsherman@s-t.com
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Innovation schools, as envisioned by [Governor Deval] Patrick, would be part of the district — overseen and funded by the School Committee and staffed by union teachers — but have independence from district policies in areas such as budget, staffing and curriculum.
Two years of organizing, research and School Committee votes produced two teacher-led proposals, which would provide opportunities for foreign language and integrated arts education currently unavailable in the district in one of the city's poorest — and poorest performing — neighborhoods.
The School Committee will vote on the schools — the Renaissance Community School for the Arts to be housed at Gomes Elementary and a bilingual immersion Esperanza School of Language and Culture, which would take over part of Roosevelt Middle School — for a final time tonight. The meeting is at 6 p.m. in the Keith Middle School auditorium.
School Committee member Marlene Pollock, a participant in the original UIA working group and a supporter of the proposals, said false rumors had circulated about teachers losing jobs or losing bargaining rights; schools running without School Committee oversight; and money being taken from other schools to fund the new ones.
"It's simply not true," she said. "I wish the opponents would do their homework. ... You can't be in denial."
School Committee member Larry Finnerty, who also participated in the UIA working group, called the tone of the debate "disgraceful," pointing to personal online attacks.
"Everyone will vote their conscience and when we're done with the vote, everyone needs to support the new superintendent and the public schools in our effort to improve academic performance and educational outcomes," Finnerty said.
Note from Esperanza School Design Team:
The Esperanza School will not simply offer foreign language classes to K-8 students. Spanish-dominant and English-dominant speakers will be integrated into a two-way dual language immersion program. Students will be learning language as well as content in English and Spanish, our partner language.
www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130408/NEWS/304080327/
By Natalie Sherman, Writer for The Standard Times
nsherman@s-t.com
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
Innovation schools, as envisioned by [Governor Deval] Patrick, would be part of the district — overseen and funded by the School Committee and staffed by union teachers — but have independence from district policies in areas such as budget, staffing and curriculum.
Two years of organizing, research and School Committee votes produced two teacher-led proposals, which would provide opportunities for foreign language and integrated arts education currently unavailable in the district in one of the city's poorest — and poorest performing — neighborhoods.
The School Committee will vote on the schools — the Renaissance Community School for the Arts to be housed at Gomes Elementary and a bilingual immersion Esperanza School of Language and Culture, which would take over part of Roosevelt Middle School — for a final time tonight. The meeting is at 6 p.m. in the Keith Middle School auditorium.
School Committee member Marlene Pollock, a participant in the original UIA working group and a supporter of the proposals, said false rumors had circulated about teachers losing jobs or losing bargaining rights; schools running without School Committee oversight; and money being taken from other schools to fund the new ones.
"It's simply not true," she said. "I wish the opponents would do their homework. ... You can't be in denial."
School Committee member Larry Finnerty, who also participated in the UIA working group, called the tone of the debate "disgraceful," pointing to personal online attacks.
"Everyone will vote their conscience and when we're done with the vote, everyone needs to support the new superintendent and the public schools in our effort to improve academic performance and educational outcomes," Finnerty said.
Note from Esperanza School Design Team:
The Esperanza School will not simply offer foreign language classes to K-8 students. Spanish-dominant and English-dominant speakers will be integrated into a two-way dual language immersion program. Students will be learning language as well as content in English and Spanish, our partner language.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Your View: Need for innovation schools grows more each day
The Standard Times - April 7, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130407/OPINION/304070308/
Les T. Hull lives in New Bedford.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
As a parent in New Bedford I am concerned about the New Bedford Public Schools District. There have been positive changes like making attendance a priority and the hiring of Dr. Pia Durkin. The proposals of the innovation schools are also a positive.
This could be an amazing time in our city's history. It's a time when two schools can show how we can bring the arts and physical education back into the schools (like when most of us were in school) and how to better integrate English and Spanish into the curriculum teaching them concurrently to both Spanish-only- and English-only-speaking students. Our children will not only learn but be prepared to meet the challenges of today and the future by knowing two languages.
This is a time where we can decide to move forward, to make New Bedford a place where families want to come and live and flourish. Voting "YES" for the innovation schools gives hope to all the families that call New Bedford home.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130407/OPINION/304070308/
Les T. Hull lives in New Bedford.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
As a parent in New Bedford I am concerned about the New Bedford Public Schools District. There have been positive changes like making attendance a priority and the hiring of Dr. Pia Durkin. The proposals of the innovation schools are also a positive.
This could be an amazing time in our city's history. It's a time when two schools can show how we can bring the arts and physical education back into the schools (like when most of us were in school) and how to better integrate English and Spanish into the curriculum teaching them concurrently to both Spanish-only- and English-only-speaking students. Our children will not only learn but be prepared to meet the challenges of today and the future by knowing two languages.
This is a time where we can decide to move forward, to make New Bedford a place where families want to come and live and flourish. Voting "YES" for the innovation schools gives hope to all the families that call New Bedford home.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Your View: New Bedford's innovation schools will spread the light
The Standard Times - April 6, 2013
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130406/OPINION/304060314/
Dr. Laurie Robertson-Lorant is an English department adjunct at Bridgewater State University.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
The argument that Innovation Schools will create "haves and have-nots" didn't get very far because, as everyone knows, there are "haves and have-nots" in the schools right now.
At no time did the opposition raise substantive objections to the actual content of the Innovation School proposals themselves — either because they hadn't actually read them, or because they have no flaws in them.
The accusations, name-calling, threats and redundant emotional appeals voiced by the opposition during the two recent public hearings had no pedagogical weight and undermined the credibility of the opposition. Any legitimate questions or objections are meant to be answered in the next phase of the process.
As a member of the Education Department at UMass Dartmouth for five years, I supervised and mentored student teachers in dozens of SouthCoast public schools, including some in New Bedford, and I wholeheartedly support the Esperanza School of Language and Culture and the Renaissance Community School for the Arts. They will be transformative additions to the educational and cultural landscape of the city whose motto is "Lucem diffundo" — "I spread the light."
I urge the mayor and the School Committee to live up to this motto by supporting these exciting Innovation Schools.
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130406/OPINION/304060314/
Dr. Laurie Robertson-Lorant is an English department adjunct at Bridgewater State University.
Relevant Quotes: (Please follow the link above to read the complete article.)
The argument that Innovation Schools will create "haves and have-nots" didn't get very far because, as everyone knows, there are "haves and have-nots" in the schools right now.
At no time did the opposition raise substantive objections to the actual content of the Innovation School proposals themselves — either because they hadn't actually read them, or because they have no flaws in them.
The accusations, name-calling, threats and redundant emotional appeals voiced by the opposition during the two recent public hearings had no pedagogical weight and undermined the credibility of the opposition. Any legitimate questions or objections are meant to be answered in the next phase of the process.
As a member of the Education Department at UMass Dartmouth for five years, I supervised and mentored student teachers in dozens of SouthCoast public schools, including some in New Bedford, and I wholeheartedly support the Esperanza School of Language and Culture and the Renaissance Community School for the Arts. They will be transformative additions to the educational and cultural landscape of the city whose motto is "Lucem diffundo" — "I spread the light."
I urge the mayor and the School Committee to live up to this motto by supporting these exciting Innovation Schools.
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