HomeMy WebLinkAboutBlock Schedule Meeting Summary 2 4-/
Block Schedule Information Meeting Thursday, March 25, 2010 IT)
WA Gymnasium; 7:40 pm -10:50 pm Total present: 64
Parents' Questions/Comments/Concerns
Note: Many of parents in attendance were also at the Tuesday night meeting such as
Lizann Cundall, Ann Dunlap, Debra and George Ledak, Deborah Ziegler;
Additionally, many more students were present at this meeting specifically several G11
students such as Casey and Corey Timmerman, Kalil Pillai, Kayli Riggs, Madison
Dickey, Haley Bender, Channing Thompson, Sabrina Freire, Danielle Krohn; Also
Amarita Hans, Tristan Maynard
Questions asked during presentation:
Unidentified Mother
1) Asked whether we are done looking at Option A and have we decided to use
Option B
Clif Cox-G4 parent
1) Asked for clarification of the block schedule making better use of teacher
planning time than the old way and more explanation of the planning time
Unidentified Mother
1) Asked for the matrix of Option B schedule to be pulled up on screen and also
wanted to see the current schedule(not available); She wanted to see them side by
side and also with a sample schedule if Option A was chosen
Unidentified Mother
1) Asked if we moved to option A, would that limit our opportunity to offer
electives; Wanted to know if this is a monetary issue or space issue
2) Asked if we expanded Blacksmith offerings, could the community support and
blacksmith program add them
George Ledak- G11 and G9
1) Asked how much money do we need/how many new students must be added for
one teacher (instead of 5 teachers as proposed)
Unidentified Mother
1) Asked how many students would be added if we went to Option B; Would we
have an athletic period if we went with Option A
Ann Dunlap-G10 and G parent
1) After viewing slide of"Leaver" data-Asked if we have the data from last year to
view
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Session (began at 8042)o
Rich Mueller- G11 and GI parent
1) Asked how do to teachers feel about the proposed new schedule and gave mic
over to Mrs. Golden to speak in order to explain what it would mean to teachers
2) Asked if teachers would reap the benefits of either Option A or Option B
3) Asked if we would clarify exactly what are teacher
Laura Gibbs- G10 parent
1) Questioned if we add these new students and use the new scheduling, will we
have rooms that will be empty so we could have room to expand the lunchroom
2) Stated that she doesn't understand the lunch time vs. class time on the schedule
shown
3) Asked if the older students will share lunch with PYP at all
4) Stated that she would like to see listed all of the Pros and Cons of Option A vs.
Option B and how they impact every grade—a side by side comparison
5) Asked what is the number of students needed to add one full time teacher
Karen Osborne- G8 and G5 parent
1) Stated that she has not heard a lot about the Baja money that was raised and
would like an explanation how that is going to benefit her children and how is the
proposed change going to benefit her children
2) Commented that we spent a lot of time and effort to build the new Arts &
Sciences Center and now it seems we have all this space to add new students-
thought that is why we built it to provide space for the current students and now
we want to add more
Kevin Maynard- G7, G5, G2 parent
1) Asked to bring back up the student/teacher ratio slide—pointed out that G7 ratio
would be reduced and the others basically stay the same with the change
2) Feels that there is really no option anyway due to the way our student numbers are
growing
Jgy Bender- G11 parent
1) Stated that he feels we have had a lack of stability here and this is not what he had
in mind for his daughter; Asked if this is from a lack of organization, leadership,
vision, or what
2) Questioned whether we can really handle the addition of all of these courses;
Asked if we can really provide 3 different Sciences
Jackie Thomas- G 10, G6, G 1 parent
1) Stated that she would love to see this same kind of excitement of adding courses
and options for the task of lobbying the State Legislature for more funding; Feels
this facility is not handing what we already have and thinks we are being
disingenuous with extending the class sizes especially with the lunchroom and
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locker issues and with the need for more space to handle our theater
classes/practice, recess and gym time.
2) Stated that she does not want us to do anything to lose interaction of older and
younger kids; She loves this about our school
3) Commented that she believes that leaders/staff words and actions are spread very
thin; Feels that there are some teachers that are "stand up"teachers but many
don't answer their emails to students or parents; Seems to her that we have too
many current teachers doing too many things and maybe we should really see
how they are serving the students we have now
4) Added that her children were on the waiting list for 5 years and all she heard in
the meetings was how this was a school of choice; When the phone call finally
came for her oldest student to get in, she had just won an UIL band championship
but they walked away to be here and drive over 80 miles a day to come here
5) Stressed that all she would like is a real honest assessment of what we are doing
today, before we start adding on-students and programs.
Hope Sherrod- G9 and G6 parent
1) Feels that a lot of time has gone into selling this to the parents and asked how
much was spent by other public charter schools that already do this vs. one that
does not; How has it affected their student body's performance
2) Asked where we are getting the data and information to back up this proposal
Sabrina Freire- G11 student
1) Stated that as DP students,they need to have 4-5 Higher Level (HL) classes and
asked how will this fit in with that requirement if we don't move to the Option B
2) Commented that with the current schedule now, the teachers don't have enough
time to spend with them and thinks that they should get more time with them
now; Added that everything presented to come with the change should already be
made available to them now,with the current schedule.
Desiree Millagan- G10 and G5 parent
1) Commented that she is curious about the adding of Physics and Environmental
Services and asked if we will only one of these courses or two, how will we
decide which ones to add and how does this effect their college admissions
2) Stated that she thinks it is absolutely ridiculous that our kids are eating lunch at 2
pm-that is just not good and asked if that was the best that we could do, adding
more breaks along the day for snacks
3) Asked that we do something different with the G7 and G8 lunch time from the
G1 I and G12 lunch time for many different reasons
Rich Goode- G11, G8, G4 and G1 parent,
1) Asked that if we could achieve the Option B goals including the prep periods
without adding new students,how many teachers would you have to add and what
is the cost? Added that if we found a big bag of money to cover that cost,then we
could do it that way
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Darla Goode-G11, G8, G4 and G1 parent
1) Asked that with the overload of the current schedule,what do we need to do now
to do it more efficiently
Carmina Freire- G11, G9, G4 parent
1) Stated that she has been here for the last 7 years and understands that we are at the
point that we need to do something and she agrees to add more teachers but not
students
2) Asked if we have realized these kids do not have any more time—that they work
constantly; Added that she thinks that these kids have gone through a lot and they
are very resilient but it is time for us to buckle up and quit making so many
changes-every single year. Where is the leadership? Feels all of us are stressed
out-administration,teachers and the kids are watching and see this. Which is
needed more—the teachers or more students.
3) Feels turnover is high with teachers because we keep burning them out
4) Asked whose final decision is it and thinks the decision has already been made
Janet Noonan- G9, G7 and G6 parent
1) Stated her concern is that over the years,we get a batch of new kids and then they
leave due to the curriculum; Asked how can we assure her that those teachers will
not spend the first 2-3 months trying to get those kids caught up; Commented that
her kids have sat in Spanish for the first 3 months of the every year repeating the
same material to catch up new students; Feels we should have a system in place to
better serve this situation and keep the kids from paying the price; Added that
while she doesn't wish any child ill, it has caused the bar to be lowered in the
classes.
2) Asked if we are really going to do this-add 60 kids (59) all at one time; Thinks it
would make better sense to start off adding a smaller number instead of
sacrificing the school's students and its reputation.
3) Asked if we go with Option B and add 5 new teachers, how aggressive will we be
about recruiting teachers from abroad; Stated that she misses the international
teachers and her children do as well
Caryl Ann Jacobs- G9 and G5 ap rent
1) Thanked the staff for being here tonight and said she adores the school and
supports it;
2) Stated that she believes kids have all different learning styles and thinks it is
appropriate to offer more classes; Added that she does love French
3) Stated that she is concerned with the excellence and the fact that every year, she
thinks that these issues will be worked out and now her kids are in G5 or G9 and
after 7 years we are still trying to work everything out; Feels that as leaders, we
are to inspire the teachers and then they will follow
4) Understands the that teaching 4 different levels is hard and the tipping point of no
leeway but believes it will be very hard to add more kids
5) Stated that she is going to trust the leaders'judgment with this decision
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Julie Timmerman- GI 1, G 10, G4 parent
1) Stated that she thinks there is a big proponent that leaders/staff are missing with
their young experience at WA, that is that every year there has been a fire here in
the spring and it has been emotionally exhausting; Said that we went through one
last year and that fire is still not over; Added that she has been working with Mr.
Garcia and he is great. Asked us to please give one more year, to graduate a class
and see how many graduate with an 1B Diploma-said that maybe we will be
successful without adding anymore students except by attrition; Asked again if we
can please just have one more year before doing this and give it a little time
2) Feels the numbers (of students coming and going; student/teacher ratio, etc.)
seem to change every time she speaks with a staff member and possibly in one
more year, we would be able to answer the questions the parents have without
answering"I don't know"; Added that there is a trust factor missing and that we
do not have all the data because we haven't had the time
3) Stated that the kids classes did not even get changed around this current year-they
have the exact same students in the two different classes as last year-because we
didn't have time to switch them around; Added that these kids are tired of being
with the same groups and they need that chance to mix with the other students;
Feels there are other little things like this that are not getting handled and we need
at least one more year to get these things in order before we add more kids and
more options
4) Asked again to give one more year before making these changes
5) Commented that she does want to say good things about all the teachers that have
come from North Hills but the quantity coming over is a lot and she believes that
they are strong teachers but added that that we are weak in international teachers;
Stated that she knows the turnover for international teachers is 3-5 years and the
ones that we do still have are nearing that time; Concerned that we are not hiring
enough international teachers over domestic ones for our IB school.
George Ledak- G11 and G9 ap rent
1) Stated he appreciates that the Leadership Team is looking at all of the options and
thanks them for looking at the quality for both teachers and students
2) Commented that as far as the block schedule goes, he thinks that it is ok and
recalls that we may have already had it at one point
3) Stated that while he does appreciate the options,he has one request before the
Board meeting next week-To come up with an Option C and ask what is the
minimum number of new students that must be added before the new teachers can
be hired to provide this block schedule with these options presented; Added that
he feels we are going to add something already but please just take a look at an
Option C
4) Commented that he likes the idea of adding French, but not just in the older
grades; Feels a choice of language in the primary years would be very beneficial -
not full course work of course but teaching the basic skills and more culturally
focused
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Madison Dickey- G11 student
1) Stated that she questions what this new schedule will do with Mrs. James; She
knows she is a part-time teacher and how will we accommodate her schedule with
this new block schedule; Feels that Mrs. James is wonderful and done so much for
the students that she hates to think about her being gone
Deborah Ziegler- G9,G6, G2 parent
1) Asked if we can get an analysis of those students leaving,those coming in and
specifically with the progression of G7 that seems to come in and leave in 2 years;
What is the why behind this; Stated that she doesn't want to see one analysis for
student body as a whole but by the individual grades
2) Asked if we could put the financial slide back up that we had on Tuesday night—
particularly the summary of impact; Added that she did not see any direct costs of
hiring new staff or support staff
3) Referred back to comment of Mr. Ledak- Stated that she would like to see the
breakeven point and questions whether we really need to add students now;
Wonders if we have looked at pulling in fewer students but still providing options.
Debra Ledak- G11 and G9 parent
1) Stated that she is wondering why we are sitting here and debating a decision that
this Board made a year ago to use this current schedule, and the one before that,
and so on; Added that it seems every time we have jumped into a new schedule
that the impact has not been positive and here we sit,pointing out the faults of this
schedule now
2) Referred back to Mrs. Timmerman's point and asked us to please take the time to
look at this one now and get it right this time; Asked us to take a few extra months
to get it right and keep the same schedule for 4 years in a row; Added that she
believes it will be worth it
Liz Ann Cundall- G10 and G8 parent
1) Asked if when the student gets notified that they are coming into WA, do they
still get 48 hours to respond; Is that still the same procedure and if so, then how
are we going to do it now, with the addition of the new students-at the beginning
of the school year and at no other time; Asked if we can flex some muscle
regarding this as a charter school
2) Asked if we do move to Option B schedule, will Spanish and other weak subjects
be offered on both"A" days and`B" days because we are obviously not at the
level we should be
3) Asked if we have done any kind of survey with the G11 and G12 students as she
does not know of any G10 student that has been asked about their opinions
Amrita Hans- G 10 student
1) Asked to see the Student Ambassadors meet with the newer students more and
help them understand what life here is actually like; Stated that she feels that
students are very vital in this role and that there should be more members in this
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group instead of just letting the small group of 12-13 students do this as it would
be more effective
Anna Oakley- Teacher and G6, G5, G3 parent
1) Asked if we would be having more presentations other than the one at the April 5
Board meeting and is it the staff's hope that this decision is made at that Board
meeting
2) Added that she will be disappointed if it is put to rest at the next Board meeting
with all of the concerns expressed at this meeting because she does not see any of
the Leadership Team getting any sleep between now and then with all of the
research and analysis to be done
3) Asked if that is why Ginger was taking all of the questions down,to get the
parents input back to the Board
Llarveen Mans- G10 parent
1) Stated that they are new to WA and all she can see is the commitment to this
school from the leaders,the staff and all of the families that have been here a long
time; All of this passion makes her feel very good to be sitting right here as she
does not see this anywhere else; She thanked us all
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