For those of you who have children in school, do you spend any time volunteering in that school? If not, why not?
We have all heard the excuses. Too busy? So is everyone else. Most people can find at least a couple of spare hours sometime during the year to help out.
Are you are at work during the day? So are many other volunteers. They help outside of work hours, or use flex hours or vacation time.
Do you have younger children who can't accompany you when you volunteer? Some solutions would be volunteering for things you can do at home during your own time, or trading off babysitting with another parent in a similar situation.
Do you feel that language or cultural barriers make it difficult for you to volunteer in a school that may be quite unlike the school you attended? Your willingness to volunteer would be welcomed despite these perceived barriers. The teachers and parent groups would be happy to help you get started with something you'd be comfortable doing.
Do you have a child with special needs? That is all the more reason to be involved in PTA, so you can advocate for your own child as well as others.
If you don't know where help is needed in your school, ask your child's teacher or ask someone from your PTA or similar organization. Watch for your school's e-mail and newsletter publications that let the school's families know where help is needed.
Some feel that the PTA is a clique and that newcomers are treated like outsiders. The reason for this is that the PTA in many cases is made up of people who have spent many hours volunteering at school and therefore know each other well from working together over the years. Believe me, these groups are thrilled to welcome additional help.
District 204 has 34 local PTA and PTSA units. There are 3 high school, 7 middle school, 21 elementary school, and 1 preschool unit. There are also two district-wide units. One is the Indian Prairie Special Needs (IPSN) PTA and the other is the newly formed Project Arrow PTA. Membership in these 34 units totals close to 20,000. The funding and countless volunteer hours provided by the PTAs benefit all students throughout the district.
When you join PTA your membership dues are put to good use benefitting schoolchildren. In most cases you will also receive a school or PTA directory simply for joining. The National PTA website says “As the largest volunteer child advocacy association in the nation, National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) provides parents and families with a powerful voice to speak on behalf of every child and the best tools to help their children be safe, healthy, and successful - in school and in life.”
School volunteers provide for a wide variety and incredibly large number of activities and events both during and outside the school day. These include things like classroom parties, assemblies, field trips, picture parent, LMC volunteers, school greeters, bank at school, school store, Reflections, mini courses, writers' workshop, school newsletters and directories, staff appreciation, community service, and peer tutoring.
In the upper grades there are also vast opportunities to volunteer with additional school-related organizations such as the sports boosters, theatre, band, choir, and orchestra parent associations, and other opportunities related to specific extra-curriculars or events such as Waubonsie’s annual auction and Senior Sailabration and Neuqua’s Senior Spectacular. Chaperoning field trips and longer trips can also provide invaluable experiences for parents.
Your time and efforts will be rewarded with your child's appreciation and your knowledge that you have done something to benefit your school community. You may also enjoy getting an inside look at your child's school and getting to know other parents, teachers, and the school's administration.
Lori Price, president of the IPSN PTA, says of her PTA members “Because we all have children with special needs, there is a commonality that exists already. We all serve as a support system for each other simply because we understand what that parent is going through. Despite the fact that our parents have special needs children, I continue to be amazed at the volunteers we continue to get. We've built some enthusiasm in our group - AND we've built our group itself. I think people want to be a part of that enthusiasm and growth. “
Don't wait for someone to approach you, get started now by contacting someone at your school. This can be the beginning of making some great friends and wonderful memories.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
2009-10-23 Performance Pay for Teachers
One of the ideas being promoted by the Obama administration is performance pay for teachers. This seems to make sense. In most industries a worker's salary and/or bonus is tied to his or her own and the company's performance, rather than a combination of the worker's number of years of experience and education that disregards individual performance.
The problem comes in measuring teacher performance. Usually a person's performance is evaluated by his or her direct supervisor. Due to the nature of the job and the number of teachers working in a school, it might be difficult for a principal to accurately rate performance. Data would be needed, likely in the form of test scores, and possibly including feedback from parents and students. Yet care needs to be taken with this. I have found as a parent that some of the teachers my children have most loved and thrived under are the same ones with whom other families have had the worst experiences, and vice versa.
In order for test scores to be used, students would need to be tested at the beginning and end of each school year. What kind of tests would be used here, a test for each grade level in the lower grades and for each subject in the upper grades? Would this be in addition to the myriad of standardized tests our students are already subjected to?
Parents want their children's time spent learning. They do not want students spending vast amounts of time learning how to take tests, practicing tests, having their learning restricted to only things that will be on tests, and spending more and more time taking standardized tests. If our teachers' salaries were tied to the outcome of these tests, it seems that classroom learning and teacher creativity would take yet another turn for the worse. What would happen to art, music, sports, and other extra-curriculars and electives in such a system?
Even if the tests themselves could be agreed upon, how would the results be handled? At all levels students may have different teachers for different subjects. Would the scores be divided out by student by subject in order to allocate them to the proper teacher? This seems like it would get unwieldy rather quickly. Would teachers be held responsible for the learning of students who moved in during the course of the year, or those who had a high number of absences throughout the year?
When a teacher is doing a poor job it is likely apparent to the students and parents, and hopefully the principal as well. These teachers should be given some guidance for improvement as would an employee in any other organization. Because of tenure it can be very hard to do anything about this situation. Any plan that involves rewarding excellence needs to also allow for replacing teachers whose performance is not up to par.
We like to think that the quality of a person's teaching will have a huge impact on student learning, and in fact it should and in many cases it does, but there are many factors that teachers have no control over, which can have an even greater impact. A student's home life and their own internal motivation or lack thereof will in many cases be an even bigger indicator for that student's success in school. Teachers should not be blamed for having students who are not ready and able to learn. If teacher salaries are to be tied to student performance, then who in their right mind would choose to teach at the more challenging jobs at poorer schools over schools in more wealthy areas?
“The big question that looms over these pay for performance initiatives remains, ‘Is it the pay for performance or the programs that accompany this initiative that seems to increase student achievement?,’ said Val Dranias, Indian Prairie School District 204’s Education Association president. “The better pay for performance initiatives all include student-focused data analysis, targeted professional development for teachers, and strong mentoring programs. In many parts of the country, these programs do not exist. In Indian Prairie School District 204 we have worked together with the administration to initiate these methods of increasing student achievement.”
There are some teachers who absolutely excel at what they do — and while they do not get any extra monetary award for that, they may be rewarded with students who are eager to learn, who are actively engaged in classroom activities, and who come visit them years later to thank them. Teachers at the other end of the scale may find themselves with students who don't turn in their homework, who don't understand the material, who are unhappy to be in the classroom, and who never come back excited to see them.
“In my department I choose to put the best teachers with the lowest level learners; this is who and what they need to be successful learners,” said Molly Owles, math department chair at Waubonsie Valley High School. “If teachers were paid based on the performance of their students, no teacher would choose to teach these courses, and who could blame them?”
I have to believe that most teachers chose their profession not to get rich but to help guide young minds through either a particular subject or a year of elementary school. They want their students to learn. They are willing to jump through the hoops required by today's educational system in order to get the payoff of students understanding the topic at hand and possibly bringing them to a love of learning itself.
Some of the best things a good teacher provides students cannot be measured easily on a test. These include inspiring a passion for learning, inspiring a deeper interest in the topics presented, and instilling a sense of worth in the students themselves as well as possibly planting the seeds that will lead to a student pursuing a new passion or the beginnings of something that will become that child's career someday. Good teachers can make a lasting positive impact on the lives of their students in ways that go far beyond improving their test scores.
Pay for performance is one of those things that sounds like a great idea on the surface but there is a lot that needs to go into making it a viable program.
The problem comes in measuring teacher performance. Usually a person's performance is evaluated by his or her direct supervisor. Due to the nature of the job and the number of teachers working in a school, it might be difficult for a principal to accurately rate performance. Data would be needed, likely in the form of test scores, and possibly including feedback from parents and students. Yet care needs to be taken with this. I have found as a parent that some of the teachers my children have most loved and thrived under are the same ones with whom other families have had the worst experiences, and vice versa.
In order for test scores to be used, students would need to be tested at the beginning and end of each school year. What kind of tests would be used here, a test for each grade level in the lower grades and for each subject in the upper grades? Would this be in addition to the myriad of standardized tests our students are already subjected to?
Parents want their children's time spent learning. They do not want students spending vast amounts of time learning how to take tests, practicing tests, having their learning restricted to only things that will be on tests, and spending more and more time taking standardized tests. If our teachers' salaries were tied to the outcome of these tests, it seems that classroom learning and teacher creativity would take yet another turn for the worse. What would happen to art, music, sports, and other extra-curriculars and electives in such a system?
Even if the tests themselves could be agreed upon, how would the results be handled? At all levels students may have different teachers for different subjects. Would the scores be divided out by student by subject in order to allocate them to the proper teacher? This seems like it would get unwieldy rather quickly. Would teachers be held responsible for the learning of students who moved in during the course of the year, or those who had a high number of absences throughout the year?
When a teacher is doing a poor job it is likely apparent to the students and parents, and hopefully the principal as well. These teachers should be given some guidance for improvement as would an employee in any other organization. Because of tenure it can be very hard to do anything about this situation. Any plan that involves rewarding excellence needs to also allow for replacing teachers whose performance is not up to par.
We like to think that the quality of a person's teaching will have a huge impact on student learning, and in fact it should and in many cases it does, but there are many factors that teachers have no control over, which can have an even greater impact. A student's home life and their own internal motivation or lack thereof will in many cases be an even bigger indicator for that student's success in school. Teachers should not be blamed for having students who are not ready and able to learn. If teacher salaries are to be tied to student performance, then who in their right mind would choose to teach at the more challenging jobs at poorer schools over schools in more wealthy areas?
“The big question that looms over these pay for performance initiatives remains, ‘Is it the pay for performance or the programs that accompany this initiative that seems to increase student achievement?,’ said Val Dranias, Indian Prairie School District 204’s Education Association president. “The better pay for performance initiatives all include student-focused data analysis, targeted professional development for teachers, and strong mentoring programs. In many parts of the country, these programs do not exist. In Indian Prairie School District 204 we have worked together with the administration to initiate these methods of increasing student achievement.”
There are some teachers who absolutely excel at what they do — and while they do not get any extra monetary award for that, they may be rewarded with students who are eager to learn, who are actively engaged in classroom activities, and who come visit them years later to thank them. Teachers at the other end of the scale may find themselves with students who don't turn in their homework, who don't understand the material, who are unhappy to be in the classroom, and who never come back excited to see them.
“In my department I choose to put the best teachers with the lowest level learners; this is who and what they need to be successful learners,” said Molly Owles, math department chair at Waubonsie Valley High School. “If teachers were paid based on the performance of their students, no teacher would choose to teach these courses, and who could blame them?”
I have to believe that most teachers chose their profession not to get rich but to help guide young minds through either a particular subject or a year of elementary school. They want their students to learn. They are willing to jump through the hoops required by today's educational system in order to get the payoff of students understanding the topic at hand and possibly bringing them to a love of learning itself.
Some of the best things a good teacher provides students cannot be measured easily on a test. These include inspiring a passion for learning, inspiring a deeper interest in the topics presented, and instilling a sense of worth in the students themselves as well as possibly planting the seeds that will lead to a student pursuing a new passion or the beginnings of something that will become that child's career someday. Good teachers can make a lasting positive impact on the lives of their students in ways that go far beyond improving their test scores.
Pay for performance is one of those things that sounds like a great idea on the surface but there is a lot that needs to go into making it a viable program.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
2009-10-20 Curious cat's life cut far too short
It turns out that curiosity is not what killed the cat, at least not this time. Though it might not have been too surprising if it had, given this cat’s lack of common sense and his kitten-like sense of adventure.
Instead, one recent Saturday afternoon Buddy was instantly paralyzed right before our eyes. He panicked and ran down two flights of stairs dragging his motionless back half behind him. He was almost five years old and seemed to be completely healthy up to that moment.
While the kids tended to him I tried to think of the name of our vet. We hadn’t been there recently and the number I found in the Yellow Pages turned out to no longer be valid. I called two other local vets. Both happened to be closed at 3pm on Saturday, but both in their messages gave instructions go to our local emergency vet, VCA Aurora Animal Hospital.
Last time my family had used an emergency vet was several years ago and we’d had to drive to Lisle late one night. This time I found that we have an excellent facility conveniently located on the west side of Aurora. I called them right away and they said I didn’t need an appointment and should bring the cat right away. It was sadly easy getting Buddy into the cat carrier for the drive. He was terrified and I would have liked to let my daughter hold him for the drive but I didn’t feel it was safe to have him loose.
Because of Buddy’s ragged breathing he was instantly taken for treatment while I was left to fill out forms. After he was stabilized my daughter and I were brought to a room where the vet told us that Buddy had most likely suffered an embolism, a blood clot that blocked all blood flow to his back half. He told us what treatment could be attempted and about his chances for survival. We were given detailed information about the costs and choices involved.
The numbers were not good. However, Buddy was a part of our family, he was young and full of life and had arrived at the clinic a half hour after becoming paralyzed. I couldn’t give up on him that easily. The vet was soft-spoken and honest with us. We held our kitty for a few minutes before sending him for treatment. I figured I had at very least bought both time and hope. We made plans for the following morning when we’d know whether or not the treatment was working and would possibly need to make a decision about his life.
This cat was the most obnoxious, most annoying, and one of the most affectionate cats I’ve ever had. He was always somewhere he shouldn’t be, or doing something he’d been repeatedly stopped from doing, even right in front of us. He was a very friendly pet who would follow me around constantly, could be found in my lap anytime possible, and had an uncanny knack of curling up for a nap wherever I was going to sit next. He was always anxious for attention and would greet people at the door and hang out wherever he could get some company.
Pets bring so much joy into our lives and yet their loss gives us so much pain.
Buddy died a mere six hours after the first symptom occurred and while we were rushing to get there in time to see him one last time. I am still in disbelief that he is not here now in my lap interrupting my typing, not climbing on the back of my computer chair or lying on top of my scanner or getting into any other sort of trouble. Our hearts are broken. Our older cat cannot know what’s happened or whether his pal will be returning.
I’ve lost pets before, and I know the pain fades, and I know it is not nearly the same as losing a human family member. However, daily life changes when a member of your household dies, but when it’s only a pet you are expected to continue on as if all is normal. We thought we had many more years with this young pet. The only good that will come from this is that we will be able to provide a home for yet another cat waiting for a family.
For emergency care when referred by your vet or if your vet’s office is closed, check out VCA Aurora Animal Hospital, on the south side of Galena Blvd. just west of Orchard Rd. No appointment is necessary during their emergency service hours and there is no need to call ahead. See VCAAurora.com for more information.
The people there were very caring with us and our pet and they are a top notch animal medical facility. In addition to critical care for pets they are well-equipped with the necessary technology and offer a wide range of specialty services. The clinic is accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association.
My family appreciates the staff’s kindness and compassion during that Saturday and the thoughtful handwritten sympathy card received from them a few days later.
Instead, one recent Saturday afternoon Buddy was instantly paralyzed right before our eyes. He panicked and ran down two flights of stairs dragging his motionless back half behind him. He was almost five years old and seemed to be completely healthy up to that moment.
While the kids tended to him I tried to think of the name of our vet. We hadn’t been there recently and the number I found in the Yellow Pages turned out to no longer be valid. I called two other local vets. Both happened to be closed at 3pm on Saturday, but both in their messages gave instructions go to our local emergency vet, VCA Aurora Animal Hospital.
Last time my family had used an emergency vet was several years ago and we’d had to drive to Lisle late one night. This time I found that we have an excellent facility conveniently located on the west side of Aurora. I called them right away and they said I didn’t need an appointment and should bring the cat right away. It was sadly easy getting Buddy into the cat carrier for the drive. He was terrified and I would have liked to let my daughter hold him for the drive but I didn’t feel it was safe to have him loose.
Because of Buddy’s ragged breathing he was instantly taken for treatment while I was left to fill out forms. After he was stabilized my daughter and I were brought to a room where the vet told us that Buddy had most likely suffered an embolism, a blood clot that blocked all blood flow to his back half. He told us what treatment could be attempted and about his chances for survival. We were given detailed information about the costs and choices involved.
The numbers were not good. However, Buddy was a part of our family, he was young and full of life and had arrived at the clinic a half hour after becoming paralyzed. I couldn’t give up on him that easily. The vet was soft-spoken and honest with us. We held our kitty for a few minutes before sending him for treatment. I figured I had at very least bought both time and hope. We made plans for the following morning when we’d know whether or not the treatment was working and would possibly need to make a decision about his life.
This cat was the most obnoxious, most annoying, and one of the most affectionate cats I’ve ever had. He was always somewhere he shouldn’t be, or doing something he’d been repeatedly stopped from doing, even right in front of us. He was a very friendly pet who would follow me around constantly, could be found in my lap anytime possible, and had an uncanny knack of curling up for a nap wherever I was going to sit next. He was always anxious for attention and would greet people at the door and hang out wherever he could get some company.
Pets bring so much joy into our lives and yet their loss gives us so much pain.
Buddy died a mere six hours after the first symptom occurred and while we were rushing to get there in time to see him one last time. I am still in disbelief that he is not here now in my lap interrupting my typing, not climbing on the back of my computer chair or lying on top of my scanner or getting into any other sort of trouble. Our hearts are broken. Our older cat cannot know what’s happened or whether his pal will be returning.
I’ve lost pets before, and I know the pain fades, and I know it is not nearly the same as losing a human family member. However, daily life changes when a member of your household dies, but when it’s only a pet you are expected to continue on as if all is normal. We thought we had many more years with this young pet. The only good that will come from this is that we will be able to provide a home for yet another cat waiting for a family.
For emergency care when referred by your vet or if your vet’s office is closed, check out VCA Aurora Animal Hospital, on the south side of Galena Blvd. just west of Orchard Rd. No appointment is necessary during their emergency service hours and there is no need to call ahead. See VCAAurora.com for more information.
The people there were very caring with us and our pet and they are a top notch animal medical facility. In addition to critical care for pets they are well-equipped with the necessary technology and offer a wide range of specialty services. The clinic is accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association.
My family appreciates the staff’s kindness and compassion during that Saturday and the thoughtful handwritten sympathy card received from them a few days later.
2009-10-12 WVHS Orchestra NYC Trip
(published months later than expected...)
District 204’s music program gives music student the opportunity to travel twice during their high school years. Usually one domestic and one international trip is offered during each four year period for each of band, orchestra, and chorus. Students who are able to take advantage of this wind up with an unforgettable experience with their friends and teachers. Chaperones are required for the trips to happen, and they are rewarded with a memorable experience as well.
Sixty-five teenagers, fourteen adults, two buses, hundreds of miles, five days of spring break 2009 in New York City, thousands of photos – it all added up to a wonderful trip! I think the adults could have done without the two nights of sleeping on the bus, but the hotel where we stayed in New Jersey was very nice and our time spent in the huge and bustling Big Apple was incredible.
This was my second trip chaperoning Waubonsie Valley orchestra students, and the teens again showed themselves to be fantastic ambassadors for our school. Many of us had not visited New York City before. We were enthralled Monday morning by the sight of the Statue of Liberty as we neared it while freezing on top of the ferry, and then were surprised to be given the chance to walk around the island and get even closer. Next we visited Ellis Island, then took the ferry back to Manhattan and walked to Wall Street .
At St. Paul’s Chapel we walked somberly past the September 11 memorials and historical markers such as George Washington’s pew. The next block over is Ground Zero, enclosed now so we couldn’t even get a glimpse the big hole in the ground. Dinner in Little Italy was followed by some interesting shopping in that area and in neighboring Chinatown. Rehearsal that first evening in the hotel was marred when one student set his violin on the floor and it was accidentally stepped on and broken into two pieces by another student.
Tuesday morning began with a tour of Carnegie Hall, an absolutely gorgeous building with an interesting history, followed by lunch in the Trump Tower. The students played a beautiful concert in the Madison Avenue Sculpture Garden (formerly the IBM atrium). This was an unusual setting in a large enclosed area with birds flying around and people walking through the building. The student orchestra played Tocatta by Frescobaldi, Concerto Grosso by Corelli, The Godfather, Hoedown by Copland, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, and Sentimental Sariband. They were directed by Mr. Mark Liu, Mr. Will Burck, and Mrs. Deborah Schmaltz.
Next we visited the United Nations where we had guided tours and observed the UN in session. We rode the buses over to Broadway where we were given a mere 45 minutes to explore Broadway from 42nd to 48th. Times Square was an amazing sight! We walked up and down the whole way but barely had time to take in the huge Toys R Us, the chocolate stores, the statue of George M. Cohan, the unusual looking police station, the bright lights, the signs everywhere, the theaters, wow! After dinner at Planet Hollywood we walked to The Palace Theatre in the next block to see West Side Story. Some of the students on this trip performed in the pit orchestra for Waubonsie Valley’s performance of West Side Story May 7-10.
Wednesday we went on a multi-ethnic eating tour in which we walked all morning and tried a variety of foods while learning about the areas we visited and related history. After lunch in Little Italy and Chinatown the students had a clinic with a musician while we chaperones had two free hours to roam the area. During this time a few of us saw the Flatiron Building and we ran into Chris March from Project Runway. We managed to see many remarkable sights during our free time. Dinner was at a restaurant in the basement of the Empire State Building. We knew that Yo-Yo Ma had played in Carnegie Hall the prior evening so Mr. Liu was very excited when some of the students came running with the news that Yo-Yo Ma was signing autographs upstairs. How disappointed he was to find out it was only an April Fool’s joke.
Later I read that on a clear day one can see great distances and many states from atop the Empire State Building. This was not our experience. We were there on a very cloudy, windy, and rainy evening. It was so cloudy that we could only see about a block away. It was so windy that people’s umbrellas turned inside out and their hair blew straight out. We did not have to wait in any line to go up top because no one in their right mind would pay to go up in that kind of weather!
Thursday morning we packed up and headed into the city for the last time. We had a short time to tour the American Museum of Natural History and then saw an IMAX movie that had too much repetition in it and put many of the audience to sleep.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and warm. We took a walk into Central Park where we saw Strawberry Fields after walking past the building where John Lennon had lived. We toured the Lincoln Center buildings which house the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet and the New York Philharmonic. After dinner we returned to spend an evening enjoying a performance of the New York Philharmonic.
We arrived home Friday afternoon exhausted and full of incredible memories.
District 204’s music program gives music student the opportunity to travel twice during their high school years. Usually one domestic and one international trip is offered during each four year period for each of band, orchestra, and chorus. Students who are able to take advantage of this wind up with an unforgettable experience with their friends and teachers. Chaperones are required for the trips to happen, and they are rewarded with a memorable experience as well.
Sixty-five teenagers, fourteen adults, two buses, hundreds of miles, five days of spring break 2009 in New York City, thousands of photos – it all added up to a wonderful trip! I think the adults could have done without the two nights of sleeping on the bus, but the hotel where we stayed in New Jersey was very nice and our time spent in the huge and bustling Big Apple was incredible.
This was my second trip chaperoning Waubonsie Valley orchestra students, and the teens again showed themselves to be fantastic ambassadors for our school. Many of us had not visited New York City before. We were enthralled Monday morning by the sight of the Statue of Liberty as we neared it while freezing on top of the ferry, and then were surprised to be given the chance to walk around the island and get even closer. Next we visited Ellis Island, then took the ferry back to Manhattan and walked to Wall Street .
At St. Paul’s Chapel we walked somberly past the September 11 memorials and historical markers such as George Washington’s pew. The next block over is Ground Zero, enclosed now so we couldn’t even get a glimpse the big hole in the ground. Dinner in Little Italy was followed by some interesting shopping in that area and in neighboring Chinatown. Rehearsal that first evening in the hotel was marred when one student set his violin on the floor and it was accidentally stepped on and broken into two pieces by another student.
Tuesday morning began with a tour of Carnegie Hall, an absolutely gorgeous building with an interesting history, followed by lunch in the Trump Tower. The students played a beautiful concert in the Madison Avenue Sculpture Garden (formerly the IBM atrium). This was an unusual setting in a large enclosed area with birds flying around and people walking through the building. The student orchestra played Tocatta by Frescobaldi, Concerto Grosso by Corelli, The Godfather, Hoedown by Copland, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, and Sentimental Sariband. They were directed by Mr. Mark Liu, Mr. Will Burck, and Mrs. Deborah Schmaltz.
Next we visited the United Nations where we had guided tours and observed the UN in session. We rode the buses over to Broadway where we were given a mere 45 minutes to explore Broadway from 42nd to 48th. Times Square was an amazing sight! We walked up and down the whole way but barely had time to take in the huge Toys R Us, the chocolate stores, the statue of George M. Cohan, the unusual looking police station, the bright lights, the signs everywhere, the theaters, wow! After dinner at Planet Hollywood we walked to The Palace Theatre in the next block to see West Side Story. Some of the students on this trip performed in the pit orchestra for Waubonsie Valley’s performance of West Side Story May 7-10.
Wednesday we went on a multi-ethnic eating tour in which we walked all morning and tried a variety of foods while learning about the areas we visited and related history. After lunch in Little Italy and Chinatown the students had a clinic with a musician while we chaperones had two free hours to roam the area. During this time a few of us saw the Flatiron Building and we ran into Chris March from Project Runway. We managed to see many remarkable sights during our free time. Dinner was at a restaurant in the basement of the Empire State Building. We knew that Yo-Yo Ma had played in Carnegie Hall the prior evening so Mr. Liu was very excited when some of the students came running with the news that Yo-Yo Ma was signing autographs upstairs. How disappointed he was to find out it was only an April Fool’s joke.
Later I read that on a clear day one can see great distances and many states from atop the Empire State Building. This was not our experience. We were there on a very cloudy, windy, and rainy evening. It was so cloudy that we could only see about a block away. It was so windy that people’s umbrellas turned inside out and their hair blew straight out. We did not have to wait in any line to go up top because no one in their right mind would pay to go up in that kind of weather!
Thursday morning we packed up and headed into the city for the last time. We had a short time to tour the American Museum of Natural History and then saw an IMAX movie that had too much repetition in it and put many of the audience to sleep.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and warm. We took a walk into Central Park where we saw Strawberry Fields after walking past the building where John Lennon had lived. We toured the Lincoln Center buildings which house the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet and the New York Philharmonic. After dinner we returned to spend an evening enjoying a performance of the New York Philharmonic.
We arrived home Friday afternoon exhausted and full of incredible memories.
Friday, October 2, 2009
2009-10-02 School Bus Chaos
Indian Prairie School District families faced big changes related to bus scheduling when school started this year. People complaining about bus issues were not overreacting to the usual glitches that come with the start of a new school year. The problems this year were on a whole different scale than we’ve ever seen before.
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of families faced very serious bus issues. Thankfully most have been resolved at this point. However there were entire neighborhoods that either had no bus service at all initially, or had buses so overcrowded that the drivers wound up not able to finish their routes once they had all seats full and some students standing in the aisles. Some students called for rides after school because once their assigned bus was full and no more students were allowed to board, they needed to find an alternate way to get home. Some had very long waits for very late buses as drivers did the best they could with the routes they’d been assigned.
Half day kindergarten students had a whole different array of bus problems – no bus scheduled to transport them at all, then a bus with an impossible schedule including pick-up times after the start of their school day, then no bus showing up to drive them home from school for more than an hour after their first day ended, and yet another day early in the year they were sent home on the wrong bus.
Minor bus issues included those cases were stops were so consolidated that now some bus stops had 30, 40, or even 50 kids waiting for the bus in a single location. Even as more buses and forgotten routes were added there continued to be reports of neighborhoods left behind, buses not able to fit all the of their assigned route, and large numbers of students at individual stops. The district office was inundated with more complaints than they could handle and worked to resolve the worst issues as quickly as possible.
This year the district added a new high school and converted a freshman campus to a middle school. In addition, the administration decided to purchase a bus routing system and move the bus routing in-house. The new system allowed each family to see information online about their own bus stop and pick-up and drop-off times, but did not give the complete route, as has been available in prior years. This meant that until the first day rolled around, parents didn’t know how completely crazy some of these routes were. In the first days after the information became available and school started routing changes were needed constantly.
Something particularly puzzling was the high school buses that had a hundred or more students assigned to them. These students were issued school IDs that included their bus numbers, so it seems that the district would have known some buses would be unable to transport the assigned number of students. Later I heard that the district underestimated the number of students who would ride the buses. There are always some students who have another mode of transportation and/or before and after school activities so do not use the buses on a regular basis.
One change that was to be implemented this year was the requirement that middle school and high school were to show an ID with the proper bus number on it in order to ride buses. As it turned out, many IDs had the wrong information to start with, or information that became wrong as routes were added or changed. Students from some neighborhoods had IDs incorrectly showing them as walkers. Because of the large number of issues, students have been riding the buses without showing IDs as they always have before, and I’ve heard of no incidents related to this.
I recently wrote about the district’s decision to assign bus seats for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and my hopes that this decision would be revisited. I am happy to say that in light of all the other bus issues and changes, the district decided not to go forward with assigned seating for this school year. This can now still be used as a disciplinary measure when necessary.
Parents wondered why the district would take bus routing in-house on this particular year when there were already so many other changes going on. It turns out that no cost savings is realized with this change. The reason for taking routing in-house is that the district will be getting bids on a new bus contract to begin next school year. Whichever bus company the district contracts with in the future will use routes provided by the district. The district’s administration believes it can better manage the technology piece of the bus routing and that this is to the benefit of the residents, though we have yet to see evidence of that. The district says it can do better with customer service, better fit the district needs, and keep student and bus data in sync as student data gets to the Versa Trans system on a daily basis. The district attempted to better utilize full capacities on the buses as it tried to make do with the same number of buses as were used last year while busing to an additional building and adding students. They also apparently hoped to decrease bus route times by drastically reducing the number of stops.
I have the greatest respect and appreciation for our bus drivers and realize they have a difficult job, made even more so this year with the new routes. We can all hope that things will be better from here on out due to moving the scheduling in-house. Anyone still having bus issues should contact the district’s director of support services.
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of families faced very serious bus issues. Thankfully most have been resolved at this point. However there were entire neighborhoods that either had no bus service at all initially, or had buses so overcrowded that the drivers wound up not able to finish their routes once they had all seats full and some students standing in the aisles. Some students called for rides after school because once their assigned bus was full and no more students were allowed to board, they needed to find an alternate way to get home. Some had very long waits for very late buses as drivers did the best they could with the routes they’d been assigned.
Half day kindergarten students had a whole different array of bus problems – no bus scheduled to transport them at all, then a bus with an impossible schedule including pick-up times after the start of their school day, then no bus showing up to drive them home from school for more than an hour after their first day ended, and yet another day early in the year they were sent home on the wrong bus.
Minor bus issues included those cases were stops were so consolidated that now some bus stops had 30, 40, or even 50 kids waiting for the bus in a single location. Even as more buses and forgotten routes were added there continued to be reports of neighborhoods left behind, buses not able to fit all the of their assigned route, and large numbers of students at individual stops. The district office was inundated with more complaints than they could handle and worked to resolve the worst issues as quickly as possible.
This year the district added a new high school and converted a freshman campus to a middle school. In addition, the administration decided to purchase a bus routing system and move the bus routing in-house. The new system allowed each family to see information online about their own bus stop and pick-up and drop-off times, but did not give the complete route, as has been available in prior years. This meant that until the first day rolled around, parents didn’t know how completely crazy some of these routes were. In the first days after the information became available and school started routing changes were needed constantly.
Something particularly puzzling was the high school buses that had a hundred or more students assigned to them. These students were issued school IDs that included their bus numbers, so it seems that the district would have known some buses would be unable to transport the assigned number of students. Later I heard that the district underestimated the number of students who would ride the buses. There are always some students who have another mode of transportation and/or before and after school activities so do not use the buses on a regular basis.
One change that was to be implemented this year was the requirement that middle school and high school were to show an ID with the proper bus number on it in order to ride buses. As it turned out, many IDs had the wrong information to start with, or information that became wrong as routes were added or changed. Students from some neighborhoods had IDs incorrectly showing them as walkers. Because of the large number of issues, students have been riding the buses without showing IDs as they always have before, and I’ve heard of no incidents related to this.
I recently wrote about the district’s decision to assign bus seats for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and my hopes that this decision would be revisited. I am happy to say that in light of all the other bus issues and changes, the district decided not to go forward with assigned seating for this school year. This can now still be used as a disciplinary measure when necessary.
Parents wondered why the district would take bus routing in-house on this particular year when there were already so many other changes going on. It turns out that no cost savings is realized with this change. The reason for taking routing in-house is that the district will be getting bids on a new bus contract to begin next school year. Whichever bus company the district contracts with in the future will use routes provided by the district. The district’s administration believes it can better manage the technology piece of the bus routing and that this is to the benefit of the residents, though we have yet to see evidence of that. The district says it can do better with customer service, better fit the district needs, and keep student and bus data in sync as student data gets to the Versa Trans system on a daily basis. The district attempted to better utilize full capacities on the buses as it tried to make do with the same number of buses as were used last year while busing to an additional building and adding students. They also apparently hoped to decrease bus route times by drastically reducing the number of stops.
I have the greatest respect and appreciation for our bus drivers and realize they have a difficult job, made even more so this year with the new routes. We can all hope that things will be better from here on out due to moving the scheduling in-house. Anyone still having bus issues should contact the district’s director of support services.
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