| K-8 School; Why Not? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 10 2006, 08:33 PM (1,595 Views) | |
| Administrator | Nov 11 2006, 10:28 AM Post #31 |
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Administrator
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Anything that cuts out a transition, keeps kids in one school longer, and keeps them closer to home, would keep me in the district. |
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| CKlockner | Nov 11 2006, 10:37 AM Post #32 |
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Principal
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For any of you who have had kids go through middle school you know that those two years fly by. Your kid just starts feeling comfortable and its over, on to high school. This same thing will be happening twice now with the 5/6 schools and then middle school. We need to get rid of a transition. I think k-8 would work much better than the 5-6, 7-8 we have now if done right. |
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| fyi | Nov 11 2006, 10:57 AM Post #33 |
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Principal
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I agree CK. |
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| Pete | Nov 11 2006, 11:28 AM Post #34 |
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Principal
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Very interesting. First off, no matter how you slice it, I prefer 2 or 3 K-12 transitions opposed to 4 transitions as we have now. I agree w/ the notion that older kids behave better when in the company of younger children and would mentor and naturally become good examples to the younger kids. I am also a big proponent of fewer transitions but also am a big believer of neighborhood schools. I believe K-8 is great but on the down side might produce too few schools, probably most not within neighborhoods. That said I don't know if I would prefer K-8. Until more info is provided as to how many K-8 schools there might be and where they were situated, I could not say at this time. I am not at all a fan of K-4, 5-8, 9-12....though still better than the awful (4) transition debachle we have now. I think the chemistry of a 5-8 schools would be that of a young junior high. I think the school chemistry of mentoring will not work without younger kids and grades. I think it would be a bad school environment. In order to have neighborhood schools and three at most transitions, I believe K-6 probably is and was the best configuration. Perhaps K-7, 8-9, 10-12 would be good depending on the number of Elem schools and if they are neighborhood schools??? Of course, cost for these plans are a large part of the equation. |
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| GrantGrid3 | Nov 11 2006, 11:30 AM Post #35 |
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Principal
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Yes...K-8 can be "bigger" which is probably why I choose the smaller K-8 school in the area. My son's first grade class has 18 children and the teacher also has a part time parapro! |
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| Aunt Bea | Nov 11 2006, 11:50 AM Post #36 |
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Principal
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Webster is not the same as a school of choice. It is a service provided by the district to a seleted group of students who qualify for those services and therefore, transportation should be provided. It was suggested that the a K-8 could be offered at Dickenson for parents who prefer that option over what is available to all K-8 students in the district. In SOC, if I don't want to send my child to my local elementary, I provide the transportation to the other school. See the distinction I was trying to make? It is not worth an argument, but I was trying to suggest that any new plans on the table had to come with plans of how they would be financially realistic. I think we learned a lot this year about what additional bus runs cost. |
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| 2tots | Nov 11 2006, 12:17 PM Post #37 |
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Principal
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There is a huge difference between elementary schools and middle school and it is not necessarily the age of the kids. The number of kids per grade level is a big factor. There is a sense of anonimity in the middle schools because there are so many kids of the same age group. That's where you start running into serious behavior issues -- kids feel they can get away with more. Think about it, if you were 12, where would you feel more inclined to misbehave, in a setting where all of the teachers and staff members in the building know you or where you are just a nameless kid in a crowd? I've said this before on this forum. Think back to when you were a middle schooler (or in my day, junior high). Where were you when you smoked your first cigarette, had your first drink, skipped your first class, etc, etc, etc? Most likely you were not in elementary school. Not that there aren't discipline problems in elementary school, but let's face it, there are more problems in middle school. You say you do not want your 5 year old on the same bus as 13 year olds. You are forgetting that there are also 6, 7, 8 ...year olds on that bus too. If I had a 5 year old child and a 12 or 13 year old child, I would love it if they could be on the bus together. If you give the older children a sense of responsibility over the younger ones, they would rise to the occassion. Someone mentioned babysitting earlier. This is another bonus in my eyes. If you have a young one and 12 or 13 year old neighbor child, you can enlist the neighbor child to look out for your little one. That gives you a win-win situation -- the older child is given a responsibility and a sense of purpose and the younger one is looked after. I also LOVE the idea of keeping families together in one building for as long as possible. It's good for the kids as well as the parents and teachers and everyone else involved in your child's education. The staff really gets to know not only your child, but the whole family and you really get to know the staff. And neighbors and neighborhoods get to know one another better, too. You tend to all look out for one another. |
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| Mrs.M | Nov 11 2006, 12:42 PM Post #38 |
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Principal
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Aunt Bea, Do you believe parents choose to send their children to Webster? Do you believe they choose to send them to Webster for the opportunity to advance and compliment/supplement their needs? Can parents choose to keep their child in their 'home(neighborhood) school'? I wonder how many parents would still send their child to Webster if transportation was NOT provided? The same applies to CAPA, MSC and MACAT. If the student 'qualifies' for entry into one of these special groups, parents and the students choose to attend or enroll in those programs. I would certainly hope the district is not forcing the parent or student to enroll in the program. Providing transportation just makes it more appealing to the parents as does the sibling rule (another perk that may be being abused). |
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| Mrs.M | Nov 11 2006, 12:46 PM Post #39 |
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Principal
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My response to the bussing was in reference to the above quote. I read it as 'How could LPS provide the bussing for a K-8 school?' |
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| livoniamom | Nov 11 2006, 01:12 PM Post #40 |
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Principal
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The idea is growing on me. As long as these would be UPPER ELEMENTARY and not any sort of middle school where they are shuffled from teacher to teacher. Why not throw in opening Dickenson as a 5-8 school in there since it will only cost $700,000 to do so? (Afterall, if 4 million is not a lot of money, $700,000 is nothing). At least NW Livonia would have SOMETHING instead of the current NOTHING they have now. In our case, we still would not have a neighborhood school but at least we'd have one less tramatic transition to a "Mega School." It would also eliminate middle schools which I think everyone agree are not great environments for children. Do you think children that do not attend middle school have a harder time transitioning to high school? |
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| livoniamom | Nov 11 2006, 01:19 PM Post #41 |
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Principal
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I think reading this thread proves that there is no concensus on what is best for LPS as far as grade configuration. Some people view the older children (age 13) as "mentors" -- I have seen how they behave in my neighborhood -- they would scare the you-know-what out of my timid 5 year old -- trust me. Maybe the push should remain K-6 because that is what worked before in this district. Then again, why even discuss because it will be a cold day in hell before the BOE changes anything back to the way it was. This is probably a waste of time. PS: Could the lawsuit be brought back up because now they can prove "damages"?? (IE: loss of students) |
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| Mrs.M | Nov 11 2006, 01:21 PM Post #42 |
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Not all 5/6 classes change teachers; there are a few that keep the same teacher for all core subjects. Here's hoping that teacher is enthusiastic and keeps the students' interest for the entire day. Pre LI, students did change classes in the 2-6 grades, they went as a class to another teacher whose love and possibly major was in a particular field. |
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| Administrator | Nov 11 2006, 01:26 PM Post #43 |
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Administrator
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The financial aspect of opening a K-8 is not a problem. We can afford it, we know that. If it keeps 200 kids in the district, it more than pays for itself. The administration does not seem to get the fact that most people don't complain, they just leave. We have to do something this year, because if another 400 leave next year, we are screwed to put it midly. And they will leave without choices. |
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| chs3 | Nov 11 2006, 01:38 PM Post #44 |
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1st Grade
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Webster has families that not only move into Livonia for the ACAT program, but many families move from out of state, into Livonia just to become eligible to test for the program. Whether the school district would bus your child there or not, would be of little issue to many parents. |
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| fyi | Nov 11 2006, 01:47 PM Post #45 |
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Principal
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13 year olds, 10, 5, and 2 year olds can co-exist together. They already do in many families---including my own. |
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