Starting Over: A Post-Katrina Education
This opinion blog chronicled the highs and lows of starting over in the new educational landscape that has become New Orleans’ answer to the question, “How Hard Can It Be?” This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
Taking Care of Business
Yesterday, we had our monthly Board meeting at the school. It was our first chance to hold the meeting in a space that was easily accessible to the public. If we can get our web site up and running, the December meeting will be announced on it and we can hope for our parents and community to become engaged in the running of our school. The meetings are held on Saturday mornings to allow working people to attend. I am looking forward to planting the seeds for a true learning community in Treme.
Education
Opinion
Mmm-Mmm Good!
Slices of savory roasted turkey topped with a large scoop of cornbread dressing and gravy, baked macaroni and cheese, green beans seasoned with sweet onions, hot soft dinner rolls, cranberry sauce and scrumptious sweet potato pie were all menu items in today’s school lunch at McDonogh 42 Elementary Charter School. How hard can it be to prepare this particular lunch? It’s the traditional Thanksgiving lunch that everyone has come to expect. At least, everyone who has a fully operating kitchen can expect it. Our school is still trying to get a stove, freezer, steamer, and other basic equipment to move us from a warming kitchen to a cooking kitchen. We are supposed to be on a fast track with the kitchen equipment plans but we’ve been stuck in one spot for the last three weeks. I thought that with the nod from the state superintendent and the attention from the RSD facilities director we’d be well on our way by now. We are not.
Education
Opinion
No Luck At All
Ray Charles sang a song with lyrics that said “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” Sometimes I feel like our charter school association is in that mode. We’ve had some bad luck.
Education
Opinion
Money, Money, Money, Money
I was feeling pretty good about the salaries we are paying our teachers. The salary schedule was based upon the Recovery School District’s (RSD) salaries for 2006 – 2007. We added an additional $2,375 raise for certified teachers and $1,000 for other degreed personnel which the state granted in July. It was topped off with a potential $1,000 for teachers who participated in the two week pre-opening activities. It was a great deal for teachers because the RSD salaries were already among the highest paid in the state.
Education
Opinion
The 48 Hour Day
I'm on my way to the Annual Education Trust Conference in Washington, D.C. My plane leaves in 5 hours and I haven't been to bed yet. What's worse is that I have to fly with a sinus infection. Half of my face hurts like a throbbing toothache.
Education
Opinion
A Master Teacher Makes My Day
Austin is doing a wonderful job teaching his third grade class. His students are always actively engaged in hands on learning. This teacher is what we call a “natural.” His room is attractively decorated and well organized, looking better at the end of the day than many classrooms look at the beginning. Parents are already clamoring to have their children moved to his class. Austin is a handsome young man with prematurely gray hair and an infectious laugh. His work ethic and classroom are equally attractive. What I like best about his room is the lime green, sheer curtains that block the glare of the sun. Many of the teachers have themed curtains gathered on tension rods to keep out the bright sunshine. Austin’s curtains create a magical hue to the room as the sunbeams are softened and colored by the semi-transparent fabric. He makes it all look so easy.
Education
Opinion
Ups and Downs
Up – Yesterday we had a wonderful “informance” at the school to celebrate Jazz Awareness Month. Renowned jazz saxophonist, arranger, and producer Harold Batiste joined The Next Generation jazz band to entertain, inform, and teach 170 students about the music that was born in New Orleans. The 76-year old musical genius answered questions posed by second, third, and fourth grade students. The Jam session included Adella, Adella, the Storyteller, who read the book Jazz on a Saturday Night (2007), by Leo and Diane Dillon. It was a magical moment as the musicians punctuated the story with their musical interludes laced throughout the tale. Jessie McBride, the band leader lectured about types of instruments, learning to read music, and the history of jazz. The program was arranged through one of our former teachers.
Education
Opinion
Report Card Conferences
It's late-- after midnight. I'm still up because I was wondering how many parents went to school yesterday for Report Card Conferences. Teachers remained at school to distribute cards from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. I'll find out what percentage showed up when I visit the school later today. I hope we had a good turnout for the first quarter. I remember how hard it was to get some families engaged in their children's educations when I was a principal. A large portion of our population is eligible for free or reduced price meals; they are families who live in poverty. Poverty plays a large role in their participation.
Education
Opinion
Decisions, Decisions
Yesterday, I posed a question for my blog readers which required them to decide which of three simultaneous problems I addressed as the most urgent. As a reminder here are the problems: 1) the report cards for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten had to be picked up from the print shop. Report card conferences are Thursday. 2) The photographer forgot to take pictures for IDs and cumulative folders, only taking pictures of students who wanted to purchase his photo packages. 3) Two staff members got into an ugly argument which was witnessed by several parents.
Education
Opinion
Mondays are Bad Enough without Rain
Yesterday was a rainy Monday. It was also a terrible day that included tornado warnings, street flooding, and heavy thunderstorms. I was very happy to be able to remain inside my house. It's one of the joys of retirement. But after the storms passed, we had a cold front today with much lower temperatures. So many things went wrong at school today that I remembered what it was like to be a principal when the seasons changed. It drove the kids nuts. But, today everyone was nuts.
Education
Opinion
Hogwarts Blues
J.K. Rowling was in New Orleans yesterday. At her much lauded book stop, she read to 1600 public school children and signed Harry Potter books. None of the children at our school were in attendance for this once in a lifetime event. We received some donated books for the library and late Wednesday evening, 20 tickets were delivered for our student representatives. Unfortunately, the details did not come with the tickets. The principal gave the tickets out to the children in the after school tutoring program and told them to ask their parents to take them to the event. It was too late to order a bus or get permission slips out. It was too late to conduct the essay contests or Harry Potter discussions held at other schools this week. We never got the communication about the event. We didn’t know tickets were reserved for our school. The next morning, a bus showed up to transport the children to the Convention Center for Rowling's appearance. No one told us that a bus had been ordered.
Education
Opinion
Hit the Road, Jack
“I’m not doing this.”
One of our teachers quit today and spoke those words before stripping the decorations from her bulletin boards, packing her personal items, and walking away. She left her class of 19 seven-year-olds and never looked back. When the principal shared this news with me, she did not appear concerned. Actually, she seemed relieved. The principal agreed that the teacher was correct; she was not doing it.
One of our teachers quit today and spoke those words before stripping the decorations from her bulletin boards, packing her personal items, and walking away. She left her class of 19 seven-year-olds and never looked back. When the principal shared this news with me, she did not appear concerned. Actually, she seemed relieved. The principal agreed that the teacher was correct; she was not doing it.
Education
Opinion
Service with a Smile
Don’t you hate it when you have to call an office in the State Department of Education? There are so many bureaucrats in the building that as you get transferred from one person to another so many times, you forget why you called. Usually, you can’t get an answer or the person you need to talk to is unavailable, out to lunch, in a meeting, or on vacation until the next week. This weekend, I had to contact the Louisiana State Department of Education on a serious matter. I was so sure I’d get the runaround that instead of making a telephone call Friday evening, when I discovered the problem, I decided to send an email at a quarter to ten Sunday night. Email provided the promise of less confrontation and the protection of electronic communication. It was a cowardly act; I know.
Education
Opinion
Cooking New Orleans Style
Remember these words from the hit song in the early 1980s recorded by the Pointer Sisters?