Uno began her career as a first grader this week (Dos will start kindergarten on Monday). Her teacher seems nice; it sounds like Uno has already begun building her cadre of devoted followers; her last school seems to have prepared her very well for the curriculum here. Despite the butterflies and insomnia I suffered the night before her first day (it's as bad as if I were the one starting a new school! :-P), I have every confidence that she -- that both girls, actually -- will thrive.
Poor Tres, though. All day long she asks, "Where Uno? Where [cousin]?" When Dos begins all-day kindergarten next week, Tres will have nobody to play with! Except for me, of course. And Grandpa. And Grandma. Okay, so I guess she'll be fine. ;-)
The educational culture here seems quite different than what I'm used to. The girls attend a school that houses Pre-K through 2nd grade; another school in town handles 3rd-5th; then you have your traditional middle school and high school. First of all -- though I don't have a problem with it (it's probably good not to have great big 11yos playing alongside 4 and 5yos) -- I've never heard of dividing kids up in that way.
The main thing that concerns me is the approach to behavior. It may be totally standard; my perception of the differences between here and where we came from may be unfairly biased in favor of my home region. Who knows? But here's the thing: Where we used to live, the schools focused on positive behavior. Uno's old school had implemented
Rachel's Challenge and all year long emphasized kindness, compassion, and inclusion. Good behavior was recognized and rewarded. At this new school -- which, remember, goes only up to the 2nd grade, so we're talking about 7 and 8yos at the oldest -- we parents were given extensive information on what constitutes inappropriate behavior: Bringing firearms to school; cyber bullying (with a list of what that entails) as well as the traditional sort; wearing clothes that expose your midriff; wearing clothes that depict or support gang or drug activity; etc.
Seriously? We're worried about
7yos wearing belly-baring marijuana leaf t-shirts and carrying their Glocks to school?
The children, too, have been thoroughly debriefed on these policies and their attendant consequences. I asked Uno yesterday at dinner how school had gone. "I didn't get detention!" she replied. Uh... good! :-P
Maybe I'm naive and idealistic, but I believe children will rise to meet the expectations important adults have for them. Not becoming a gun-toting, gang-banging, cyber bullying 2nd grader is a reasonable goal. But I want more for my girls. I want to inspire them to achieve and contribute and and uplift. I want them to make friends and be friendly to everyone. I want them to stand up for the Little Guy. I expect them to do the right thing, not simply avoid the wrong thing.
I'm not so concerned about academics -- I figure it's up to the student to get a good education, and I know my girls are motivated and excited to learn -- but DH is. We got this letter from the Superintendent in our packet of information:
Dear Parents,
Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, the district is required to notify you that three schools in the district did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) minimums on state testing in the spring of 2009.
The law entitles you the choice of attending another school but, at this time, there are no choice schools available or any intergovernmental agreements to receive [our town] students with schools in the area. It may interest you to know that it is the policy of our Board of Education not to accept students from other area schools not making AYP.
If you would like specific information or an explanation as to why your child's school did not make AYP and what the school is doing to improve test scores, or if you would like further information concerning the NCLB mandates, please make an appointment to meet with the school principal.
Sincerely,
the Superintendent
I'm not a big fan of teaching to the test (as the NCLB Act has required), so I take this letter with a grain of salt. And as I said, I think the responsibility for her education lies with each student. A motivated learner can get a great education in a crappy school; a lazy or indifferent student can leave the most prestigious academy as a functional illiterate. I've seen evidence of both outcomes. I do think the
family educational culture can make a big difference, but I personally have no concerns about that.
Our new district has a high drop-out rate (a huge billboard on the way out of town shouts, "If I can, you can! Get your GED now!") but the high school does offer AP classes for the smarty-pantses; where we came from, nearly everyone graduated from high school but there were no AP classes and many (often the ones from farm families) chose not to go to college.
(
Your mom goes to college!) (Sorry; I've been hanging out with DH too much.)
Anyway. Is it six of one and half a dozen of another? Failing schools that expect the worst but offer advanced classes vs. a positive academic environment that doesn't do enough to promote higher education? And why am I worrying about their prospects for college when (a) Uno is only 6yo and (b) I'm technically a college drop-out, myself (I graduated from a junior college, then worked a year toward my bachelor's degree before deciding I couldn't afford it)?
But honestly, it's more than just the schools. This whole town feels (to
me -- and it probably is just me) like it has an anti-intellectual bent to it. Where I grew up, and where we most recently lived, people lived by the motto that the glory of God is intelligence. People valued education, whether in school or gleaned from a life of hard work and virtuous living. I don't sense that here.
Am I looking backward with rose-colored glasses, though? Is this evidence of classism on my part? I grew up in a white collar, middle class neighborhood; this town is decidedly blue collar and less well off. So maybe I'm just a snob...?
Ouch.
I don't know. But as I said at the beginning, I have no doubt that the girls will succeed and thrive -- and I, too, intend to bloom where I'm planted. I may experience some culture shock initially, but I will acclimate and soon I'll be posting glowing reports of our new town, our new schools, our new life. I just need a little time to adjust, I guess.
~RCH~
by Yann Martel and now the pleasant little book that had bobbed along, lulling me to sleep at night a few chapters at a time, has got me wide awake. Animals or no animals?
