Boston Parents, Boston Schools

Say It Often Enough, and People Will Believe It

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:04:00 +0000

Today's Boston Globe has an op/ed piece by Marjorie Arons-Barron "The reality of Boston Schools". It is an interesting combination of personal reflection (the writer attended the BPS many years ago) and present-day personal experience. Her conclusion? That "People need to know -- and see first-hand -- that the system, despite all its challenges, is making progress."

Arons-Barron's conclusion can't be said often enough. When examined through a macro lens, the challenges facing the Boston Public Schools can appear to be daunting, insurmountable. But change happens at the school level, the classroom level, the individual student level. When I was a cross-country runner, my coach always told us never to look at the top of the hill but rather halfway up the hill, and run to that point, then halfway up again, and again, until reaching the summit. That's what I see happening at the Kid's school, incremental changes that will keep accruing until at some point everyone in Boston will look at the Boston Public Schools and realize a significant achievement has taken place. Do I have my doubts sometimes given the reputation of the Boston Public Schools and the occasionally maddening things that a bureaucracy throws at us? Of course I do, but we're in this race for the long run, and we plan to finish. I can only hope that more and more parents plan to join the race as well.--The Dad

p.s. There is also an interesting editorial in today's Globe about early childhood education.

Time to Visit Schools!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:22:00 +0000

The Boston Public Schools has started its school previews as part of the registration process which culminates with the opening of registration in January. We did not attend school previews at this time last year, in part because school wasn't really on our radar. As the parent of a then two-and-a-half year old, I'm not sure we realized that the BPS had spots for three year olds. If you are new to the Boston Public Schools, I highly recommend going to schools your child might attend and observing the school during a school day. I feel that we were at somewhat of a disadvantage because we hadn't done that when we were ranking our school choices for the Kid, and when the Kid actually received notice of acceptance (in July of 2006) we really were flying blind. Ultimately we feel we made the right choice, but there is no such thing as having too much information when your child is involved.

Schedule for Elementary/K-8 schools (in English).

Schedule for Middle/K-8 schools (in English):

Schedule for high schools (in English):

Schedules can also be found in Cape Verdean, Chinese, Haitian, Portugese, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese at this link.

Pop Tarts for Tykes?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 17:41:00 +0000

So far The Dad has been the packer of lunches for The Kid each day. He aims for a healthy, satisfying, and energizing balance of fruit, veggies, protein, and carbs and we've been warned not to send in any candy (not that we would anyway). The Kid gets milk at school and other parents asked that only regular milk be offered.

Often these lovingly packed lunches come back only partially eaten, which is disappointing. She does eat breakfast at home, and then again at school, plus lunch and a parent-supplied school-approved snack in her classroom and then again in afterschool, so we know she's eating enough.

We like to eat in our home, but we try to avoid the overly processed stuff, go organic with meat, milk, fruit and veggies when we can, and serve up lots of the Kid's favorite veg, broccoli. As a result, she's not a picky eater, and she loves to cook with us.

We were warned off of the school lunch by other parents. But I feel like it's a viable back up if we need it -- after all, it's all nutritionally balanced, right? Well, perhaps not all day.

Last week I went to pick up the Kid early from her afterschool program, which is on site but not run by the school. There they were, noshing on two strawberry Pop Tarts each and having milk.

The Kid loves frosting of any kind, which she gets at birthday parties, so the idea that this snack had built in frosting was heaven to her.

But I found myself reacting like Jarret Barrios did when he heard Fluffernutters were on his son's lunch menu in Cambridge. His outrage then backfired when many of his constituents came out in support of Fluff as a locally made staple, despite the fact that it's 50% sugar.

I know that Pop Tarts are easy and cheap. That's part of what's causing a nationwide epidemic of obesity for children and their parents -- at the same time we have child hunger rising.

After we left, I asked the Kid if this is what they normally have. "No," she said, "Sometimes we have cookies." This is a girl whose very special dessert treat if she's been well-behaved is a teeny tiny hard candy -- and then a tooth brushing right afterwards. We try to make sweets a special occasion thing, and chocolate is mostly banned due to making her crazy immediately afterwards. Cookies are not part of our daily dining choices.

Nutritional Analysis

Strawberry Pop Tarts: 203 calories per tart, 5g fat, 19g sugar
vs.
Fluff: 60 calories for 2 tablespoons, no fat, 9g sugar

The upshot? Pop Tarts are way worse for you than Fluff. And I'm going to have to be like Jarret and find a nice way to try and get this changed, not just for afterschool, but also for our parent nights, where artery-clogging KFC fried chicken is a staple. I don't know about you, but given the choice between nothing and some finger lickin' good chicken when I'm hungry, I'm hard pressed to say no to the Colonel after that smell meets my nose. But me clogging my arteries is bad news for my daughter, so we avoid KFC in our regular life.

Alice Waters, we need you here in Boston starting up an organic garden in our school...

We need to all be role models to our kids, not just for reading and moral discipline, but for eating. And that goes for our schools, our mentoring programs, our restaurants, and anywhere else we're eating with kids. - The Mom

Public School Registration: New Orleans

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 03:13:00 +0000

Classes in many schools started late in New Orleans this year, and they didn't get holidays like Columbus Day off since they're trying to make up for last year. When your neighborhood is decimated, your friends gone to other states, where do you go to school? Signs like these -- where to vote and where to register for school -- are all over New Orleans. - The Mom

Condemned in New Orleans

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 02:28:00 +0000

I'm writing from New Orleans. This week I left the Dad and the Kid behind with the Grandparents, and spent the long weekend working on the enormous Habitat for Humanity Musicians' Village project that is being built on several acres of land that once belonged to the New Orleans Public Schools. One of the would be homeowners was building up sweat equity with us today as we put trim around door frames. He said that this land -- where upwards of 75 houses will be built in the next two years -- had once been the football field of his high school, and that the building had been condemned more than a decade ago. Condemned. Luckily, this man somehow went on to become a teacher and a coach. Football, which seems to be the equivalent to the Red Sox here in Louisiana -- was his saving grace.

Much as we in Boston might whine about the perceived decline of the Boston Public Schools over the last 30 years, we are not rebuilding in the face of an atrocious public school system begat by public indifference and corruption and then a major disaster. People do care in Boston and even at its worst, our schools were never the worst city system in the country (and now have been recognized as the most improved). Our problem is more one of leftover anger and burnout and demographic change than actual malfeasance or corruption (as far as I know). I learned on our bus tour that private and parochial schools had already been huge in New Orleans, and that charter schools had overtaken the public school system as the state's administrators of choice in the State's post-Katrina world. (During our tour of the city by local residents, we were told that only a few schools remain administered by the New Orleans Public Schools.)

"In November, the Legislature, led by the Governor and Louisiana Education Superintendent Cecil Picard had passed legislation that gave the state the authority to take over 103 of our Orleans Parish schools. The School Board retained 17 of the high performing schools. Some opposed this move and protested it vigorously, especially when it forced the Orleans Parish School Board to lay off all but a handful of our former employees, including many devoted teachers...We intend to provide a Unified School System that will provide high quality education for the first time in many years to all students."
-"A Year in Review" letter by Phyllis Landrieu, President, Orleans Parish School Board, 8/29/06

Fewer than 50% of pre-Katrina residents of New Orleans have returned a year later, causing unimaginable changes to the school system. Even when they return, so much has changed that parents often don't know where to send their kids. Signs all over town -- even in neighborhoods that still have no electricity -- have hotline numbers to find out where to vote and where to send your kids to school. But there's still a need for marketing. Earlier this year one enterprising charter school principal reportedly threw out Mardi Gras beads with the school's contact info imprinted on them. There are now 6 public schools and 12 charter schools. I cannot fathom a public education system where there are more charters than public schools. Was it really that bad? Was it politics? Surely some of each.

Good liberal folks are supposed to back public education 100%. But if the public schools will not and cannot educate children well enough for all of them to even graduate, we have to insist upon change on behalf of our children. Kids can't vote, but families will vote with their feet. Over the last 15 years, I have noticed a lot of good liberal folks in Boston signing up for METCO, charter schools, and private schools when it comes to their kids.

I never want to see the day when the kids in my neighborhood are sent to a school that's condemned. Because we all know that it wasn't just the building that was condemned, but the kids as well. I can't say it was the teachers or the adminstrators who condemned them either; it was everyone who gave up. Katrina was just the wake up call that nobody could go back to the way it was. And the spirit I see here makes it clear that nobody wants to.

They are not rebuilding, they are building something newer and better -- from homes to schools. Let's hope it works. Let's help them get there. It's a city worth saving for the next generation. - The Mom

Hi Tech BPS

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 05:46:00 +0000

Last Thursday and Friday our home and cell phones kept ringing with recorded automated updates about the concrete plant explosion that blew up next to a school bus depot in Charlestown at lunchtime on Thursday.

The Kid is still listed on the transportation list, so the city was ensuring we had updates on the situation.

When I first heard "there's been an explosion" I certainly perked up. Quickly they added that no children had been on the buses (not mentioning the drivers who had to be hospitalized after the hazardous dust hit them). The recording also reassured us parents that principals would stay until every child whose bus didn't make it got picked up.

Is this Homeland Security emergency preparation money or normal day to day operations? Either way, I was mightily impressed by the speed, determination, and reassuring tone of the communication effort.

By the next afternoon the buses were back in gear after crews cleaned them all night and made sure they were OKed by the environmental folks. We got a call about that as well.

My hats go off to the city and the schools on this one. And I hope all the bus drivers are OK. - The Mom

She Loves It; We're Staying

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 05:30:00 +0000

How much does the Kid like her new school? Well, on Friday we kept her home because her cold finally got the better of her, and she simply pitched a fit. A tantrum for missing school? Here I thought she'd be happy to spend extra time with us. Nope.

When informed Sunday night that she would be well enough to go back to school on Monday, she said "Hooray!" She loves learning the rules, the games, sharing in the feeling circle ("I said I was happy"), and even the excitement of drinking milk with a fancy multicolored straw. Then coming home and telling us all about it.

The Dad and I are also saying "Hooray" these days. This weekend I started cruising open houses to find a bigger house closer to the Kid's school and friends. We'd been holding off until the school situation was clear -- essentially if she get's into a great school we stay in the city, which we love; if she gets into a not great school we think about leaving, charters, and private). Now we can look for a bigger home a year earlier than we'd planned. Thank you Mayor Menino, the Charter schools for putting on the competitive pressure, and everybody who works at the Boston Public Schools who has worked to innovate, renovate, and elevate. It's working. - The Mom

Advanced Work Classes / Sumus Primi

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 19:32:00 +0000

Great topic, Adam, and one that resonates with me. As a bright little kid who loved school and was naturally good at standardized tests, I attended four schools in four years because of the Advanced Work program. At that time in the early 80s I'm not sure that we had a choice. Now there are more schools. I think that's a plus.

I was happy at the Haley (Roslindale) from K-4 (where I skipped two grades), then went into the advanced work tracks at the Hennigan (JP) for 5th, the Martin Luther King (Dorchester) for 6th, and Boston Latin (Fenway) for 7th.

While those classes were mostly very good experiences, the saddest thing for me was the MLK, which had a horrific physical plant -- for example the boards on the gym floor were butted up to each other vertically at 45 degree angles so we had gym in the parking lot. For the kids who weren't in our isolated 2-class program (and we basically moved as a group from one school to the next), it was clear there was no way they'd be going to any exam school, and that they weren't really expected to even get out of high school. They'd essentially been written off by 6th grade. We, on the other hand, were on the Harvard and US Presidential track you mentioned. Ouch. Talk about guilt.

The best thing about Boston Latin School was the other students. Let's face it: if you cream off the best test-takers in a large school system and feed them a college prep curriculum, then it's pretty much a given that a bunch of them will go to Harvard no matter how well you teach them. After many happy years in the Boston Public School system, I started at Latin School, which I'd looked forward to attending from grade 4 when I read about it in a history book. It was clear from the third day of school that my creativity was not welcomed ("this is not an essay - F" came back on my superbly crafted mystery of the nonworking alarm clock with hand drawn cover submitted to my English teacher). There was a mold we were meant to fit.

I did well academically and socially, but was miserable. It just wasn't me. For years, I didn't do any creative writing, but I learned to write a perfect five paragraph essay. The school culture also seemed to relish in the suffering it put students through, as if that would make them better people than a supportive environment. "If you didn't understand it the first time," my brother was told when he asked a teacher for clarification, "then you don't belong here." The school later fought my parents' request to test my brother for ADD, since they believed that no BLS students could possibly be learning disabled. They were incorrect on that one.

After three years, I moved to Brookline to live with my Dad and flourished in the open campus setting at Brookline High School. Both schools were listed at the time in the Top 10 Public Schools in America list, but for me there was no contest.

At Latin, my only course choices during my entire three year tenure were between Spanish, French, or German. At Brookline, I had an inch thick course catalog and got to take Semiotics in 10th grade.

At Latin, I sat in alphabetized rows and was disheartened by the rampant cheating and a culture of memorizing and forgetting. At Brookline, we learned in the same format I found at college - a discussion circle.

At Brookline, we participated in the state and national Junior Classical League, an organization that Latin School refused to join. (Why? Was building ballistas and catapults making Latin and Greek too much fun?)

At Latin, then Headmaster Contampasis sent a girl home in front of me at the front door one day because her blouse was too low cut. Despite the lack of AC, shorts were allowed only two weeks of the year -- and girls had to wear longer ones than boys so as not to be distracting. At Brookline, you wore what you wanted, so long as it wasn't dangerous or blatantly insulting. (I bring up the dress code, since that's a topic of interest in the schools again.)

I guess it's ironic that the "best" school in Boston was the worst school for me.

For intellectually gifted children the most important things are 1) having at least some supportive peers they can relate to intellectually (whether in school or out) and 2) interesting learning opportunities. But one of the best things I learned at Brookline after being tracked as gifted for so long was how brilliant many of my classmates were in other areas -- music, acting, dance, even entrepreneurship. Their perspectives in our class conversations were incredibly helpful to me, and reminded me how we need to learn from all our gifts.

At Latin, our classmates were more similar kinds of learners who did well in a traditional classroom. The school motto - sumus primi (we are first) - did nothing to ease the superiority complexes of many students. I found this embarrassing.

Many of my friends from Boston Latin had to recover from their experiences there. Several went on academic probation their first year of college (including one at Harvard). In addition to beer, they were drunk with the freedom they found, but unable to manage it.

I hear that Boston Latin is somewhat better these days, but the Kid's favorite babysitter is a student there and still echos many of my concerns from 25 years ago.

Like me, some kids will need to find other alternatives. I am heartened by news that following the model of Harvard and other Ivies, Exeter and other prep schools are working hard to accept good students on a need blind basis . (As of 2006, Harvard offers free tuition to all accepted with a household income under $60K; Exeter info in Boston Globe, "Costly Boarding Schools offer more aid" 4/18/06).

If your goal is to get into Harvard, then being an academic star at Boston Latin is a well-trod path. (Brookline High, Exeter Academy and Andover are also well-known "feeder schools".) My friends who have attended Harvard have had amazing opportunities and have gone on to do cool things in their lives, as I would have expected. But they were also the ones who were the most interesting all around people, not just the ones with the best grades. They are people with ingrained talents and engaging personalities, both of which were evident very early in their lives, and their schooling often didn't have much to do with it at all besides provide the transcript and entree they needed.

I hope your daughter aced those tests, Adam. It's a great skill to have and worth practicing since far too much of education is based on tests. But your job is to make sure that she knows that no matter what her score is, or what school she decides on, that her success in life will come from being true to herself and her talents. It's good to remind young people that the kids with the best grades and scores don't always "win" in life.

As long as she's happy, able to be herself, and surrounded by interesting, interested, and supportive children and teachers, she'll thrive. - The Mom

Advanced Work Classes and the BPS

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 15:36:00 +0000

Adam Gaffin of Universal Hub checks in:

Update: Turns out yesterday was just a practice test. Today is the real thing; for homework, the teacher wrote on the chalkboard: "Go to sleep early tonight."

Today, Greta takes (maybe she's already taken) the Stanford 9 standardized reading and math test. Although this will let us know how she's doing, it has an extra bonus nailbiting component: Her score determines whether she gets invited to an "advanced work class" (AWC) for grades 4 through 6. AWC (in which students work at an accelerated rate - fourth graders end the year using the fifth-grade curriculum) is, of course, the fast track to Boston Latin, Harvard and the presidency in 2040.

But it gets even more fun because she's in a K-5 school, which means it doesn't have AWC. So if she got invited to AWC, we'd have to decide if she leaves her current school, which has basically been good for her, and if so, which AWC program to apply to (this is, however, apparently made easier by the fact that all the parents get together and decide en masse which school to send their kids to).

And if she doesn't get invited, or if she does, but we turn it down, then we have to figure out what to do for sixth grade (with the assumption, of course, that she's smart enough that she'll be able to get into an exam school anyway). And that's a tough issue because, to be honest, we've yet to hear a single good thing about any middle school in the city (when we pick up the local paper, police-blotter items about students trying to beat up teachers are as likely to be from the local middle school as from the local high school).

They don't have problems like this in the suburbs, do they?

+++++++++

Thanks Adam! If you have news, reports, or stories about experiences schools in Boston, please contact us at: bostonparents@gmail.com Anonymity available if requested!

Citywide Showcase of Schools

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 17:25:00 +0000

The Boston Public Schools have announced the Citywide Showcase of Schools which will be held Saturday 21 October 2006 from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. at the Bayside Expo Center, 200 Mount Vernon Street, Dorchester. As the website says:

"Get important information about all the Boston Public Schools under one roof. See displays of student work, and talk to principals, teachers and parents about what makes each school special. This Showcase takes place earlier this year in order to give families an overview of schools before School Preview Time begins."

We didn't do this last year, but wish we had. It seems like an excellent opporunity to begin exploring the schools.--The Dad

The Bus & I: Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 03:48:00 +0000

OK, let’s talk about the bus. It’s appealing to me not to have to drive the Kid to school since it’s taking up to 45 minutes round trip – an hour and a half of billable time mostly spent stuck in commuter traffic, dodging construction zones, and chewing up the ozone layer as we burn gas. (Note: the Dad came up with a quicker route, so we’re down to 30 minutes round trip.) I was trying to keep an open mind about the bus – maybe it’s one of those cute little mini buses with a friendly grandmother monitor. Alas, no. The Kid has been assigned a regular size bus with kids up to grade 5. She’s not even 4 yet. Hmm.

All along, the Dad (who grew up walking to school) has been adamantly opposed to putting her on a bus. When we ask around, nobody is recommending that at this point, although they are quick to reassure that it’s usually fine and they team up the little kids with big ones to watch over them and that the monitors will be starting soon (why not now?). But I remember taking the bus and it’s just a little too wild for her at this point, even though driving takes 45 minutes round trip for us with the school traffic. We plan to carpool with friends at least some of the time.

This is another one of those situations where I feel like you’ve found the Last Resort – the bus is the Last Resort for parents with no other options and you just hope for the best. The other day I was picking up the Kid at school and found myself in the forbidden part of the parking lot (nobody has told me the best place to go and the parking lot is so crammed with cars that it’s practically impossible to maneuver in it).

While buckling up the carseat, the Kid and I observed the guy who seemed to be in charge of the buses holler several times at the kids inside a bus to sit down in a way that made us all recoil. Previously the Kid had been really excited about school buses (you know, the wheels on the bus go round and round, etc.). But this mean guy? Not appealing.

Sorry, Al Gore. We’ll keep driving for now. - The Mom

First Week of School, First Cold

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 01:33:00 +0000

I remember with a certain horror the first 7 months the Kid attended daycare. Not because of the care -- which was great -- but because of how much we had to keep her home due to sickness.

She was 18 months old, and had been kept pretty well insulated from outside germs up to that point. Our in home childcare provider never caught anything and would come take care of us all when we were sick. Then came the tidal wave of daycare cold germs into our sheltered household. The Kid had, it seemed, a continuously runny nose for that entire winter -- something reconfirmed by photos of her I recently ran across with streams of what we delicately call "snoot" glittering in the light of the flash. Eew.

We parents, with virtually no immunity ourselves, were just as bad that year, which I remember with a bit of a thickheaded muddiness. "Just wait," experienced parents told me. "It'll end soon. Besides, it's either now or when she enters school." It did taper off eventually and settled down to about a quarterly cold. In the meantime it was all too often the sick caring for the sick -- and many, many missed days of daycare (which, of course, we paid for -- sometimes she was able to go another day, sometimes not). Not a great situation.

And now, three days into her first week of school, the snoot has started to flow again.

There is nothing to be done about it as toddlers are germ factories and we'll have to plow through this new batch. But I look at my busy fall schedule full of meetings and projects to be done and I am worried. When the Kid gets sick, the Kid wants (and gets) Mommy and I know that I need to start making contingency plans now. Not just for her sick days, but for my own. Once upon a time, I didn't bother with flu shots, but now we line up early, stock up on Gypsy Cold Care tea, honey, and emergenC and hope for the best.

I reassure myself that it's only a cold. At least she hasn't gotten head lice yet. - The Mom

The Wrap Around Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 13:49:00 +0000

One of the challenges for parents looking at schools for children aged 3-5 (6 year olds are legally required by the Commonwealth to attend school) is the issue of the wrap around hours, which are those hours of the day when a parent or guardian is at work and the child's schoolday is over. Who will watch your child?

Our choices of Boston schools with K-0 slots had widely varying hours: from as short as 9:30 to 11:30 to as long as 7:30 to 5:00. Needless to say, this range makes choosing a priority school (one does a rank order of the schools available when applying) difficult--the school perceived as the best choice was the one with the shortest hours.

If you are like us and your child's name isn't drawn in the initial Spring lottery and then you receive notice in early July of a school assignment, there isn't a lot of time for schedule rearranging. We visited the school and talked to the principal in early August and were surprised to learn that the school would be offering afternoon childcare after school hours were over. We were even more surprised to learn on the first day of school that this care, which extends until 6 P.M., would be $25 a week. In addition, before school care beginning at 8 A.M. would be $10 a week.

There are a few issues: the before school care is being administered by the school, the after school care by the local community center, which means that there will be some discontinuity in the day. On the plus side there is a separate program for K0-K1 students, which means the Kid won't be thrown in with a bunch of older kids. This may in fact be a detriment from her perspective but is a relief to us.

If we had known before making our school choices that some of the schools with shorter hours had childcare available before and after the official school hours, that may have made a difference in our choices. This gets back to the point I made a few days ago about marketing the schools--the Boston Public Schools, and all schools in Boston really, should make clear to parents what the school day may look like for their child from beginning to end. This includes before and after school care, whether administered by the school or an organization affiliated with the school. As Boston works to expand the number of seats available to 3 and 4 year olds, these care issues will become even more important. Parents need to have confidence that schools can and will work for their own schedules--we're consumers of education after all and the schools need to change and adapt (within reason) to the needs of parents.

The bottom line? Make sure to visit the schools available to you and ask questions about care both before and after school. You may be surprised by what you find.--The Dad

Countdown to Kindergarten Playgroups

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:52:00 +0000

The Kid, before school started in September, attended a weekly playgroup held at a local church. The playgroup, which was non-sectarian, allowed the Kid to meet kids around her own age as well as local parents. Hearing the experiences of parents with children slightly older than the Kid gave us some insight into the school choice process--parents had children in both public and private schools, so there was much discussion of pros and cons. In retrospect, the playgroup would have been a great opportunity for a BPS official to come talk to a group of parents interested in the BPS--a marketing opportunity if you will.

While I think that the Boston Public Schools have much to do to market schools to parents (check this website for one such marketing effort), there are positive signs. Countdown to Kindergarten, an arm of the Boston Public Schools which works to expand early learning opportunities for children in the city, will be holding playgroups for children aged 1, 2, and 3 at the Early Learning Center--West (in the Hennigan School) throughout the 2006-2007 school year. They are inviting parents, grandparents, and other caregivers to a series of open playtimes September 27-29 to visit a playgroup, meet the playgroup coordinator, and to discuss playgroup times which work best.--The Dad

The Countdown to Kindergarten Playgroup Schedule:

Wednesday, 27 September 10:00-12:00
Thursday, 28 September 10:30-12:30
Friday, 29 September 8:45-10:45

Location:

Hennigan School (3rd Floor, Room 408)
200 Heath Street
Jamaica Plain

For more information call Mary Elaine Anderson, the playgroup coordinator, at 617-474-1143 x230.

Boston Public Schools Information Sources

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 18:35:00 +0000

Information about the Boston Public Schools can be hard to find using the BPS website. Given that the City of Boston has a new website, I hope the BPS site is due for an overhaul. The best overview of the Boston Public School system I have found is in this .pdf, Introducing the Boston Public Schools. The link is to last year's edition--I imagine that they're currently working on the new one--but it covers most of the information you might want, including information about school zones, the school assigment formula, how and when to apply (the dates will be different for the coming year), and capsule profiles of all the schools. For more detailed profiles of each school, follow this link where you will find schools listed by grade level.--The Dad

Who is this sleepy child?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 03:08:00 +0000

Day Two. Tonight we're having dinner with my parents and the Kid starts looking sleepy two hours earlier than her usual bedtime. "I'm tired," she announces to the Dad. "Tonight I want to put myself to bed." And then she does, after kisses from everyone. This is a child who normally requires at least 45 minutes of parental reading, singing, and storytelling before reluctantly falling asleep. But tonight boom, she's out in 15 minutes on her own.

I have only two questions: What are they putting in the milk in school? and Where do I get some of it? - The Mom

RSS Feed

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 02:50:00 +0000

At a reader's suggestion, the Dad (the experienced blogger of the two of us) has added an RSS feed. See link to the right and you can subscribe to these updates. We encourage you to share your experiences as well, and to suggest topics to explore.

So how did it go?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 02:32:00 +0000

We went back to pick her up together at the end of the first day. We passed groups of kids outside waiting with the principal for the bus. He said hi, remembering our names. This is a very good sign.

Inside her classroom, there were only two kids left. Were we late? We’d arrived just when the teacher had suggested. Again, the newbie parent panic sets in. We did get to meet the school counselor and an intern counselor, who were making the rounds.

The Kid ran to me joyfully, but inexplicably wouldn’t hug the Dad. When we got into the car, she seemed sad and unusually quiet and we had to pull back from peppering her with questions and acknowledge her sadness. I sat next to her carseat to see what was up. No she didn’t miss her daycare friends and teachers. No, she liked the new school and had met some other kids just her “size”. No, she didn’t eat the lunch we packed, so we promised her the apple at home. No, she didn’t use the bathroom all day, which made us really hurry back. Yes, the other parents came earlier, she acknowledged as the tears started to well up.

In addition to our perceived tardiness, she seemed to be sad because of some interaction with a big kid in the playground, who perhaps didn’t invite her onto the big kid equipment. This must have been tough on the ego since she desperately wants to be big, is fearless on climbing equipment, and isn’t used to being thwarted like that. But in the end, she did finagle her way onto the big kids’ jungle gym during playtime, and she was clear about wanting to go back again tomorrow. Apparently the school’s brightly colored blocks are far superior to our own.

This big kid thing is probably my biggest fear as a Mom -- sending a petite three year old into a school with 10 year olds is nerve-wracking.

Our Kid has no idea how to handle bullies or even rambunctious boys, and can’t really tell what’s mean and what’s normal energetic playing. I guess we’ve grown a little pacifist, and I’m proud of that. I just hope she can think and charm her way out of conflicts – much as I had to do as a child who was almost always the smallest in the class in elementary school. I found that nobody – not even the toughest and most feared kid on the bus -- wanted to be the one who was mean to an obviously harmless little girl. So I could sit in his seat to make a point and he didn’t do a thing. The Kid is cautious. I hope it carries her through the day.

Her teacher told us that the Kid fell asleep easily for her nap and tonight she went down early – both being most unusual for her. School or the energy around it wore her out, which is good. So much newness is a lot to process for a little brain, especially figuring out the rules – the signs and symbols and meanings – the semiotics of school. I loved studying linguistics and semiotics in school and bits come back now and again as I marvel at her brain, her memory, her efforts at making sense of things. I think she will indeed like school. - The Mom

A Strong Foundation

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:57:00 +0000

The Kid woke up this morning at her usual hour to a bright and breezy fall morning. She and I and her Mom have been talking for a while about going to school--she’s been in day care for a couple of days a week for about a year and a half so the concept isn’t new to her--and the night before she and her Mom had laid out her first day of school clothes so she knew something different was going to happen. This didn’t stop her from her usual pancakes and yogurt for breakfast, nor from building yet another tall Lego tower which wasn’t going to fall down because she’d built, as she put it, “a strong foundation”. Oh the irony on this day of all days!

My own public school experience started at age six, so three seems like an impossibly young age for school to begin. Yet there we were, walking the Kid up to the door of the school, a building about the same age as I am. The classroom was a whirlwind of backpacks being put into cubbies, shining faces, kids racing around to see their new surroundings, and introductions to the two teachers. Some kids had already sat down to eat breakfast, others had discovered the play dough. You could also see the anxiety flit across the faces of parents leaving their children in school for the first time, an anxiety accentuated by the sound of the occasional crying child experiencing separation from a parent somewhere in another classroom.

We said our goodbyes so the teachers could get to the business at hand. Walking out the door felt like entering a new phase of life--we’re the parents of a student now!--and I thought of the tower she had built before school. Raising a child often feels like building a tower. We’re giving her the best foundation and frame we can but now we’re starting to let the subcontractors with their own specialties do some of the work. All we can ask is that they build her plumb and true and when she does inevitably fall down, that she’ll have the people and the resources to help build herself right back up. -The Dad

First Day of School

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:46:00 +0000

We both dropped the Kid off at her first day of school today, and she was the picture of 3 year old adorableness in her pigtails and little backpack. The classroom had been painted since last week's open house, and the bathrooms cleaned – both a huge relief since previously they were a little depressing despite the classroom teacher’s painting of the classroom bulletin boards. The Kid sat right down for her second breakfast and was onto playing with dough by the time we left.

Our nicely designed parent packet had information about afterschool care, which will start in October. It will cost us $25 per week for 3-6 p.m. with swimming and other lessons and activities. Assuming it’s fun and safe for her, that’s about the biggest bargain in childcare ever. There’s also a before school option with an 8 a.m. drop off. We overheard other parents talking about using private busing for pick up and drop off of their kids. We also learned that we didn’t have to make her lunch today – it’s free the first week for everyone. Who knew? All this new information made me realize that it’s our first day of school, not just the Kid's. And that’s the point of this blog: to help other parents share information and learn what’s going on in terms of education in Boston, where the mix of public, pilot, charter, parochial, and private schools and daycares is difficult to navigate.

Why isn’t this kind of basic information spread to parents before they register, before they pick a school? How many more parents would have picked our school if they’d known it wasn’t just 9:30-3:30? Why is it so hard to get information about the Boston Public Schools? Even with having a good network of parents, we still feel blind about the process, especially since the Kid was placed in July after not having her name drawn in the lottery for the tiny number of Kindergarten zero (K0) slots. (How many is tiny? Nobody seems to know, although the Countdown to Kindgergarten lady said 100.) July is not a great time to see a school in action, but we liked what we heard from friends and the principal at the Pilot School where she got assigned.

I will talk about my grim Boston Public Schools registration experience on another occasion. Today is the time to rejoice about a little girl’s first day of school. Last week she literally jumped up and down with joy upon getting a letter from her teacher talking about what school would be like. When is the last time you jumped for joy? - The Mom