good/bad

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Home : 2001 : March : 24

good/bad
By Julianne

I agree that one of the differences between the "good" schools and the "bad" is money. I guess I wasn't thinking about that when I posted. (I like to forget all the perks I gave up to work where I am now...)BUT, the amount
of money is less important than the way it is spent and the dedication of the staff. We have a wonderful principal and a dedicated staff. That makes a big difference in my life and the lives of my students. Without that I believe it would be nearly impossible to have as successful a school as we have. For instance, our faculty voted to use discretionary money to reduce class size

in first grade so that reading instruction could be concentrated where students need it most. We also chose to be retrained as a faculty in a new reading program that has been successful for underprivileged students in other areas. We have schoolwide discipline policies that are strictly enforced. We reward good student behavior throughout the school. That said, you can't create this kind of environment by yourself. So you might look into moving to a "bad" school that has those attributes.

One other comment: The reason many of our parents are too "stressed out" to worry about their child's grades is because they are worrying about where their next meal is coming from. I had that point driven home this past winter. A child in my class kept coming to school sleepy and dirty. When we questioned her about her appearance we discovered that the gas had been turned off in their house for the past week. (No hot water, no bath.) They had been sleeping together on the floor in the living room because there was a little fireplace. It was below zero that week. The father had lost his job and the mother was staying home to take care of two sick toddlers (wonder why they were sick...) while dad looked for another job. And here I was pestering this child over the state of her wardrobe! There's a good ending to this story. We referred her family for help and they got their gas turned back on. Dad got a new job and my little friend has been coming to school cleaner and more rested.